The MHRA published in the Drug Safety Update (December 2022) an update on the safety of valproate, in regards to its effect on unborn children.
Since then, teams across Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership have received a number of questions around the suggestions to make valproate prescribing safer, that were published by the MHRA, and the implementation of these. The document below ("Response to MHRA alert") clarifies the MSC current position with regards to Valproate prescribing for people of childbearing potential.

The Medicine Safety Committee has developed a "Safer Prescribing aide-memoire" for primary care to provide guidance on safe prescribing of sodium valproate (for women of child bearing age) in line with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recomendations. 
It includes  a summary of how to manage these patients within primary care, links to clinical resources and  searches/ templates available on clinical system  (EMIS Web and SystmOne)

The Prescribing Clinical Network (PCN) recommends sodium valproate (all brands and salts) for women of child bearing potential for the treatment of epilepsy or bipolar disorder, in line with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Sodium valproate for these indications and for this cohort of patients will be considered AMBER on the traffic light system.

The specialist will prescribe a minimum of 1 month of sodium valproate at initiation and transfer of care will be requested with the patient’s primary care prescriber, once the patient is stable.