Clinical information is aimed at improving patient outcomes and provides health professionals with examples of best practice. It includes practice guidelines and guidance, SPCs and PILs, information on the selection and clinical use of medicines and management of conditions as well as details of clinical trials.
As the heading suggests, the resources below provide you with the complete text of a document, rather than simply a reference to it. They are particularly useful if you have an urgent query and need to access information quickly.
The Electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC)
About: eMC provides free electronic data sheets, summaries of product characteristics (SPCs) and patient information leaflets (PILs), and information on thousands of licensed medicines available in the UK.
Use it to: find detailed information on a wide range of medicines aimed at both patients and health professionals.
How: you can search by product name, generic name or company name. Alternatively you can search by section, such as clinical or pharmaceutical particulars.
BNF (British National Formulary)
About: provides UK healthcare professionals with authoritative and practical information on the selection and clinical use of medicines in a clear, concise and accessible manner.
Use it to: rapidly access essential information on the selection of safe and effective medicines for individual patients. It includes an overview of the drug management of common conditions together with details of the medicines used.
How: register your details to gain free access.
BNF for Children
About: an essential resource for the clinical use of medicines in children.
Use it to: find information on prescribing, monitoring, supplying, and administering medicines for childhood disorders, from neonates to adolescents.
How: register your details to gain free access.
Drug Tariff
About: The electronic Drug Tariff provides access to the current edition of the National Health Service Drug Tariff for England and Wales, compiled on behalf of the Department of Health by the NHS Business Services Authority, Prescription Pricing Division.
Use it to: access the full text of the Drug Tariff online for free, outlining what will be paid to contractors for NHS services provided, be they for reimbursement (the cost of the drugs, appliances etc which have been supplied against an NHS prescription form) or for remuneration (what is paid as part of the dispensing contract with the Health Authority e.g. professional fees/allowances etc). Guidance notes available.
PAGB Directory of medicines and food supplements
About: a directory of medicines and food supplements that are available over the counter.
Use it to: see what advice is available to patients on products available over the counter.
Below are up-to-date sources of clinical knowledge, guidance, guides and patient information.
Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS) Service
About: source of clinical knowledge that can help healthcare professionals in managing the common conditions generally seen in primary and first-contact care. Provides access to guidance, quick reference guides, patient information leaflets and drug information.
Use it to: find information for use in your consultations, as a learning resource or as a source of information for patients.
How: for comprehensive help in making the most of the CKS Service see ‘About clinical topics '.
Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)
About: a programme of 113 evidence-based clinical guidelines published, in development, or under review - covering a wide range of topics. Many of the SIGN guidelines relate to the NHS Scotland priority areas of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and mental health.
Use it to: find clinical guidelines to inform decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)
About: provides national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health, in line with the best available evidence of effectiveness and cost effectiveness. Provides guidance on public health, health technologies and clinical practice.
Use it to: find guidance (advice) on the use of new and existing medicines and treatments within the NHS or clinical guidelines on the appropriate treatment and care of people with specific conditions or diseases.
NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination
About: provides research-based information about the effects of interventions used in health and social care. Includes the following databases: Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED), Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Database, Ongoing Reviews Database.
Use it to: find summaries of systematic reviews and reliable information about the costs as well as the effects of drugs, treatments and procedures.
NHS Guidelines Finder Specialist Library
About: provides an index to clinical guidelines and currently holds details of over 2000 UK national guidelines with links to internet downloadable versions of the guidelines, updated on a weekly basis. It is primarily a database of UK guidelines for UK clinicians, although some non-UK guidelines are included where there is no UK equivalent.
Use it to: search simultaneously guideline providers such as PRODIGY, NICE, SIGN. For a full list of guidelines publishers indexed (including the Society) see the link ‘Guideline publishers’ at the top of the page.
Data about clinical trials, those currently taking place and completed trials, is readily available in the public domain. The first site below brings together the data of over 20 trial registers, the second has a particularly useful FAQ section which includes a description of the different types of clinical trial.
Current Controlled Trials
About: allows searching, registering and sharing of information about randomised controlled trials. It contains more than 14,000 records from over 20 trial registers about ongoing and some completed randomised controlled trials in all areas of healthcare worldwide.
Use it to: find out the latest trials taking place before their results are published.
How: this resource is free but it requires you to register.
IFPMA Clinical Trials portal
About: the portal of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations that allows searching for comprehensive information on on-going clinical trials (registry) or results of completed trials (database) conducted by the pharmaceutical industry.
Use it to: find information on newly initiated clinical trials and results of clinical trials conducted on medicinal products that have been approved for marketing. Its FAQs also describe different types of clinical trial.
For help identifying foreign medicines see the list of internet sites maintained by our Information Pharmacists. Alternatively contact them on 020 7572 2302, or e-mail infopharm@rpsgb.org.