Resources with Free Access
For NHS Medicines Information Services
This is a list of resources that are freely accessible and considered useful to NHS MI services. It includes free paper resources (e.g. BNF, drug tariff) and freely accessible websites via the Internet or via National library arrangements. This list is not intended to be exhaustive. It is organised under general subject headings and should be used in conjunction with ‘Resources for Purchase by NHS Medicines Information Services’. Other UKMi resources give guidance on what resources to use when, e.g. UKMi workbook, Enquiry Answering Guidelines. There is also guidance on the risks associated with the use of various resources available in
Limitations of Common Information Sources used by UKMi at http://www.ukmi.nhs.uk/activities/clinicalGovernance/default.asp?pageRef=5.
Although UKMi cannot assure the quality of the listed resources, all those listed are produced by reputable/well known organisations. URLs are available for download via the MiDatabank administrators and were correct at the time of publication but are liable to change. Where registration is required this is indicated. This document may also be used to store details of your departmental usernames and passwords if you haven’t entered them in MiDatabank. This can then be kept in an accessible place for all staff working in MI.
See also Effective use of the Internet for Enquiry Answering for guidance on how to assess the quality of a website or use www.judgehealth.org.uk with tips on how to assess health related websites.
Updating the List
This list will be updated with new editions/ URLs etc. on an ongoing basis. The Clinical Governance Working Group reviews the content of the list periodically although the content of the website or resource is not formally reviewed. Suggestions for additions or deletions can be forwarded to .
Changes since July 2013 /Title / Authors/ Publisher / URL and general notes /
BNF for Children 2013-2014 / BMA, RPSGB, RCPCH & NPPG (annual) / Change: new edition
National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) / National Travel Health Network and Centre, DoH / www.nathnac.org.
Change: Note: This advice is based on that produced by the HPA (now part of Public Health England) and may differ from advice in other sources (i.e. Travax, Fit for Travel). However, all advice is evidence based. It is advised that one resource only is used in these circumstances.
Fit for Travel / Provided by NHS Scotland. / www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk. Public access site for sister site Travax. Change: Note: This advice is based on that produced by NHS Scotland and may differ from advice in other sources (i.e. NaTHNac). However, all advice is evidence based. It is advised that one resource only is used in these circumstances.
Title / Username/ password / Authors/ Publisher / URL and general notes /
General
British National Formulary / BMA and RPS (twice yearly) / One paper copy considered essential for each MI centre, online www.medicinescomplete.com/mc/bnf/current/. Online is preferred as the electronic BNF has been updated monthly from October 2012. The paper version will still only be published every 6 months.
Drug Tariff / The Stationery Office (monthly) / Only available online www.ppa.org.uk/ppa/edt_intro.htm
electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC) / DataPharm Communications / http://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/
MIMS
Monthly Index of Medical Specialities / Haymarket Medical Pubs. / www.emims.net Username and password required. NB. Access free to MICs – contact regional centre for details.
OTC Directory / Proprietary Association of Great Britain / Available in searchable form at www.medicinechestonline.co.uk. Use website drop down and selection criteria to access.
UKMi / UKMi / www.ukmi.nhs.uk Note – some areas are password protected – contact regional centre for password.
UKMi Discussion Group / Ecompass (host) / http://list.ecompass.nl/listserv/cgi-bin/wa?A0=MI-UK
Netdoctor / Collaboration of UK and European healthcare professionals / www.netdoctor.co.uk www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/ For information about drugs, search the “Medicines” section rather than the whole site.
TICTAC / Virtual Health Network / CD-ROM updated 4 times a year accessed via the regional centre.
Medline / England: www.evidence.nhs.uk/nhs-evidence-content/journals-and-databases Athens password required.
Wales: http://howis.wales.nhs.uk
Scotland: www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/home.aspx
EMBASE / England: www.evidence.nhs.uk/nhs-evidence-content/journals-and-databases. Athens password required.
Wales: http://howis.wales.nhs.uk
Scotland: www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/home.aspx
DoH - Department of Health / DoH / https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health
MHRA - Medicines & Healthcare Regulatory Agency / MHRA / www.mhra.gov.uk
Google search engine / Google / www.google.co.uk for general seach engine but also use Google scholar for more academic focus http://scholar.google.co.uk/
Adverse effects
CHM -Commission on Human Medicines / CHM/MHRA / www.mhra.gov.uk/Committees/Medicinesadvisorybodies/CommissiononHumanMedicines/index.htm. Use to access Drug Safety Update
www.mhra.gov.uk/Safetyinformation/DrugSafetyUpdate/index.htm
Drug Analysis Prints (DAPs) for Yellow Card data / CHM/MHRA / www.mhra.gov.uk/Safetyinformation/Howwemonitorthesafetyofproducts/Medicines/TheYellowCardScheme/YellowCarddata/index.htm
INCHEM / International Programme on Chemical Safety / www.inchem.org/. Toxicology information on chemicals and drugs.
TOXNET / US National Library Medicine / http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/. Toxicology information including pregnancy related toxicity information. Also links to LactMed (see below) for drugs in lactation information.
Availability
IDIS World Medicines / IDIS World Medicines / www.idispharma.com
www.idispharma.com/pharmacist.php
Durbin PLC / Durbin PLC / www.durbin.co.uk
Pro-file Database / Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Trust / Sourcing unlicensed ‘special’ medicines. www.pro-file.nhs.uk. Registration required.
Complementary Medicine
Safety of Herbal Medicines / MHRA / www.mhra.gov.uk/Safetyinformation/Safetywarningsalertsandrecalls/Safetywarningsandmessagesformedicines/Safetywarningsandmessagesforherbalmedicines/index.htm
Contraception and Hormone Replacement Therapy
IPPF Directory of Hormonal Contraceptives / International Planned Parenthood Federation / http://contraceptive.ippf.org Registration required. Can be used to identify foreign contraceptive pills.
Family Planning Association / Family Planning Association / www.fpa.org.uk
Faculty of Family Planning and Reproductive Healthcare / Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists / www.ffprhc.org.uk/. Useful guidelines including choice of a contraceptive agent at different ages, in breast feeding, inflammatory bowel disease, interactions, missed pills and using pills outside their product licence, EHC and product reviews.
Diagnostic tests
Labtests online / Collaboration of professional societies and supported by the Department of Health. / www.labtestsonline.org.uk/. Patient orientated.
Drug abuse
Drug Misuse and Dependence – Guidelines on Clinical Management (The Orange Guide) / National Treatment Agency / www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/clinical_guidelines_2007.pdf
DrugScope / DrugScope / www.drugscope.org.uk
National Institute on Drug Abuse / The National Institute on Drug Abuse (US) / www.nida.nih.gov
Talk to Frank / DoH / Home Office / www.talktoFrank.com
Drug administration
Intravenous Drug Administration Guides / UKMi recommends all centres have access to good quality IV administration guidance.
IMG – Injectable Medicines Guide / Health of Wales Information Service / http://medusa.wales.nhs.uk or www.injguide.nhs.uk.
NB. Available free to contributing Trusts and all Trusts in Wales & N Ireland.
Stabilis / Compiled by hospital pharmacists in France / http://www.stabilis.org/ Compatibility and stability data to supplement other resources.
Drug interactions
HIV Drug Interactions / The University of Liverpool / www.hiv-druginteractions.org
Hepatitis drug interactions / The University of Liverpool / www.hep-druginteractions.org
Cytochrome P450 website / Indiana University / http://medicine.iupui.edu/flockhart/
QT prolongation / US education organisation AZCERT / www.azcert.org. List drugs that prolong the QT Interval and/or induce Torsades de Pointes by risk category.
Medscape drug interaction checker / Medscape / www.medscape.com/druginfo/druginterchecker Registration required.
Evidence Based Medicine
Evidence Search - Health and Social care / NICE / www.evidence.nhs.uk. General search engine for evidence based reviews relevant to the NHS.
Bandolier / Pain Research Group
Oxford / www.medicine.ox.ac.uk/bandolier
N.B. It doesn’t look as if this site has been updated for some time. Still useful for explanations of terms e.g. NNT etc but do not use for evidence.
The Cochrane Library / The Cochrane Foundation
John Wiley & Sons / Via www.evidence.nhs.uk OR www.wales.nhs.uk OR http://howis.wales.nhs.uk OR www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/home.aspx
MeReC Publications / National Prescribing Centre / www.npc.nhs.uk/merec - NPC legacy site. This website has not been updated since May 2012. Content may be out of date. Caution if using to inform practice.
For all current products view Medicines and prescribing support from NICE.
National Prescribing Centre / National Prescribing Centre / www.npc.co.uk - NPC legacy site.
No new medicines and prescribing content will be published to the NPC legacy website, the catalogue of existing publications, resources and e-learning materials will still be available to view and download for as long as the information contained within them remains accurate and up-to-date.
Medicines and Prescribing Centre / NICE / http://www.nice.org.uk/mpc/index.jsp
New site following integration of the former National Prescribing Centre into NICE.
NICE -National Institute for Health and Care Excellence / NICE / www.nice.org.uk
Prodigy/CKS / NICE / This site has reverted to its previous name CKS (Clinical knowledge Summaries) now provided via http://cks.nice.org.uk/
SIGN - Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network / SIGN / www.sign.ac.uk
WeMeRec Bulletins / Welsh Medicines Resource Centre / www.wemerec.org
HTA assessments / National Coordinating Centre for HTA / www.hta.ac.uk/ Many of these evaluations inform NICE guidance.
Centre for Reviews and Dissemination / University of York / www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/
Infections
The Green Book Immunisation Against Infectious Disease / DoH / https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england/series/immunisation-against-infectious-disease-the-green-book
Immunisation Information / Public Health England / https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england/series/immunisation
HPA - Health Protection Agency / HPA (now part of Public Health England) / www.hpa.org.uk is now a legacy site only – it remains accessible but will not be updated.
HPA is now part of Public Health England and new information will be via https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england
Legal and ethical
Medicines, Ethics and Practice: A guide for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians / RPS / www.rpharms.com/law-and-ethics/medicines-ethics-and-practice-guide.asp
Only free to RPS members.
New products
NDO
New Drugs Online / UKMi / www.ukmi.nhs.uk/applications/NDO/
Registration required (free). Also contains links to independent new medicines reviews.
New medicines reviews / UKMi/L(C)NDG / UKMi/ L(C)NDG/ RDTC new medicines evaluations listed at http://www.ukmi.nhs.uk/activities/newProducts/default.asp?pageRef=3
but available via www.evidence.nhs.uk
NIHR horizon scanning centre / http://www.nhsc-healthhorizons.org.uk/
Patents Database / UKMi / http://www.midlandsmedicines.nhs.uk/content.asp?section=5&subsection=9&pageIdx=1
UKMi username and password required
Prescribing Outlook / UKMi / http://www.ukmi.nhs.uk/activities/newProducts/default.asp?pageRef=12
Scottish medicines Consortium (SMC) reviews / SMC / www.scottishmedicines.org.uk/
All Wales Medicines Strategy Group (AWMSG) reviews / AWMSG / www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/home.cfm?OrgID=371
European Medicines Agency / EMA / www.ema.europa.eu
Paediatrics
BNF for Children 2013-2014 / BMA, RPSGB, RCPCH & NPPG (annual) / One paper copy considered essential for each MI centre, online via http://www.medicinescomplete.com/mc/bnfc/current/. Online is preferred as the electronic BNFc has been updated monthly from October 2012. The paper version will still only be published annually.
Paediatric Formulary / Guy’s, St Thomas’ and Lewisham Hospitals / 9th edition available electronically via http://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/resources/publications/formulary/paediatric-formulary-9th-edition.pdf; paper format is due in autumn 2013.
Medicines for Children / Partnership RCPCH, NPPG and WellChild. / www.medicinesforchildren.org.uk. Also contains patient information leaflets.
Palliative care
Palliative Adult Network Guidelines (PANG) / Developed by a collaboration of UK Cancer networks / Freely available at http://book.pallcare.info/. This should be used as a core resource in preference to the print but not the electronic version of PCF4.
Palliative Care Matters / Network of Palliative Care healthcare professionals. / www.pallcare.info/ Use in preference to PANG for syringe driver compatibilities www.pallcare.info/mod.php?mod=sdrivers&menu=14
Palliativedrugs.com / Robert Twycross & Andrew Wilcock / www.palliativedrugs.com (Registration required). PCF4 is now only available via subscription. NB. The syringe driver tables are still freely available using login (click on SDSD tabs, Click here to continue to SDSD search page)
Patient information
NHS Direct Online / NHS Direct / www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
Patient UK / Patient Information Publications/ Egton Medical Information Systems / www.patient.co.uk. This site has useful healthcare professional pages (see Therapeutics section below).
Medicines Guides / Datapharm Communications / www.medicines.org.uk/Guides
Pharmaceutical
The Fridge Database / UKMi / www.ukmi.nhs.uk/Secure/Fridge/Index.asp UKMi username and password required
Pregnancy and lactation
At least two resources should be used for all pregnancy and lactation enquiries.
See also Resources for purchase list.
TOXBASE / UKTIS* UK Teratology Information Service / www.toxbase.org *Pregnancy information only, registration required.
At least two resources should be used for all pregnancy and lactation enquiries.
Monographs not suitable as patient information leaflets.
LactMed / US National Library of Medicine / http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT. At least two resources should be used for all pregnancy and lactation enquiries.
Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology / Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology / www.rcog.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=8 A range of guidelines on women’s health is available.
Drugs in Lactation / UKMi / http://www.midlandsmedicines.nhs.uk/content.asp?section=6&subsection=17&pageIdx=1
Psychiatry
psychiatrynet.eu / http://wiki.psychiatrienet.nl/index.php/Main_Page.Contains tables for:
· Switching between antidepressants
· Switching between antipsychotics
· Benzodiazepine conversion calculator
NB. Inaccuracies in some tables have been identified. The authors have subsequently corrected these. This resource should only be used in conjunction with other resources and, ideally, be discussed with a mental health specialist.
Renal
CKD Insights - now referred to as Dialysis of Drugs / Renal Pharmacy consultants / ‘Dialysis of Drugs’ available via http://renalpharmacyconsultants.com/ at http://renalpharmacyconsultants.com/assets/2013dodbooklet.pdf
This is an American text produced by an expert in nephrology pharmacy. It is updated annually and provides information on the dialysability of drugs in patients receiving haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
Statistics
Statistics in Divided Doses / North West MIC
UKMi / www.ukmi.nhs.uk/activities/Research/default.asp?pageRef=27
Therapeutics
Patient UK / Patient Information Publications / Egton Medical Information Systems / www.patient.co.uk. After putting a term in the search box you will have a list of resources to choose from. Those with an apple and a plus sign are written for healthcare professionals and are an excellent resource with the following general headings: presentation, diagnosis, aetiology, epidemiology, assessment, management etc.
The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Treatment / Berkow, R et al
Merck and Co. / www.merckmanuals.com/professional/index.html. Paper copy 19th edition (2011) can also be purchased.
Travel
Malaria Reference Laboratory / HPA (now part of Public Health England) / www.malaria-reference.co.uk
National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) / National Travel Health Network and Centre, DoH / www.nathnac.org. Note: This advice is based on that produced by the HPA (now part of Public Health England) and may differ from advice in other sources (i.e. Travax, Fit for Travel). However, all advice is evidence based. It is advised that one resource only is used in these circumstances.
Health Advice for Travellers / NHS England / http://www.nhs.uk/nhsengland/Healthcareabroad/pages/Healthcareabroad.aspx
Fit for Travel / Provided by NHS Scotland. / www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk. Public access site for sister site Travax. Note: This advice is based on that produced by NHS Scotland and may differ from advice in other sources (i.e. NaTHNac). However, all advice is evidence based. It is advised that one resource only is used in these circumstances.
Wound management and dressings
Dressings.org / Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory / www.dressings.org
Date: October 2013