Useful information sources
The following resources will help your practice as a pharmacy professional. Some can only be accessed if you / your Health Board have a subscription to the resource, and some may need to be accessed from a device on NHS Wales network.
This list has been compiled by the WMAS network training and education sub-group in conjunction with Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW).
The All Wales Medicines Strategy Group (AWMSG) was established in 2002 to provide advice on medicines management and prescribing to Welsh Government in an effective, efficient and transparent manner.
The group’s main functions are to:
- Advise the Welsh Government of future developments in healthcare to assist in its strategic planning.
- Advise the Welsh Government on the development and implementation of a prescribing strategy for Wales.
- Develop timely, independent and authoritative advice on new medicines.
The work of AWTTC consists of health technology appraisals, medicines management prescribing, medicines safety, education, toxicology and prescribing analysis.
The APPM Master Formulary includes medicine monographs which provide dosing advice which is often unlicensed, and may have been extrapolated from adult doses. In some situations, recommendations may be based on clinical consensus.
BUMPS is provided by the UK Teratology Information Service (UKTIS; previously the National Teratology Information Service, NTIS). UKTIS is a not-for-profit organisation funded by Public Health England on behalf of the UK Health Departments which provides scientific information on the effects that use of medicines, recreational drugs and chemicals during pregnancy may have on the unborn baby.
BUMPS leaflets provide reliable and accurate information openly available to women and their partners. The information leaflets summarise the available scientific information in a way that is understandable to everyone. It provides women and their partners with the facts that they need to make informed decisions, in conjunction with their healthcare provider, about use of a medicine (or medicines) in pregnancy.
BNF Publications are published jointly by the British Medical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. They are independent resources that do not market medicines. The publications evaluate clinical evidence from diverse sources with information validated by a network of clinical experts and published under the authority of a Joint Formulary Committee.
The BNF Publications reflect current best practice as well as legal and professional guidelines relating to the uses of medicines. Content includes:
- Guidance on the drug management of common conditions
- Details of medicines with special reference to their uses, cautions, contra-indications, side-effects, doses, and relative costs
- Guidance on prescribing, monitoring, dispensing, and administering medicines
Produced by NICE, CKS contains over 330 evidence-based summaries for primary care professionals in the UK. These include:
- Summaries of the most common and significant presentations in primary care.
- Clear, practical knowledge to help primary care professionals put UK guideline recommendations into practice.
- The best evidence, national guidance, policies and practice collated and summarised information are presented as specific clinical questions with answers and links to supporting evidence.
The electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC) contains up to date, easily accessible information about medicines licensed for use in the UK. Pharmaceutical companies may publish their approved Summaries of Product Characteristics (known as SPCs or SmPCs) and Patient Information Leaflets (known as PILs, Package Leaflets or PLs) on the eMC website.
The eMC contains three types of documents.
- Summaries of Product Characteristics (known as SPCs or SmPCs)
- Patient Information Leaflets (known as PILs, Package Leaflets or PLs)
- Risk Minimisation Materials (RMMs)
Summaries of Product Characteristics
An SmPC provides healthcare professionals with prescribing and administration advice on a medicine. An SmPC is based on clinical trial data, and gives information about dose, use, possible side effects, contraindications, cautions, pharmacology etc. An SmPC is always written in a standard format.
Patient Information Leaflets
A PIL is the leaflet that is included in the pack with a medicine and is a summary of the SmPC written for patients. There are X-PILs which are for blind and partially sighted people. Where available, X-PILs can be viewed on the eMC and the RNIB can provide Braille and audio versions.
Risk Minimisation Materials
Risk Minimisation Materials are part of a suite of measures that aim to optimise the safe and effective use of a medicine.
Embase is a biomedical and pharmacological database containing over 29 million records from more than 8500 journals. Updated daily, it is especially strong in its coverage of drug and pharmaceutical research, pharmacology and toxicology. Embase can be accessed via the NHS Wales e-Library for Health. You will need to login using your NHS Wales sign in to search Embase from a non-NHS Wales networked computer.
It is recommended that literature searches are performed using both Embase and Medline as they have different coverage. Guides and webinars on how to search Embase via OVID are available via the NHS Wales e‑Library for Health.
The Evelina London Paediatric Formulary was previously known as the Guy’s and St Thomas’s Paediatric Formulary.
This specialist source from one of the large Children’s Hospitals in London is a useful additional resource to the BNFC. It often gives practical advice on common issues that affect children. It is also available as an app.
Registration (free) is required to access.
The GPhC is the regulatory body for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacies in Great Britain and works to assure and improve standards of care for people using pharmacy services.
Subscription required for online access.
The Handbook of Drug Administration via Enteral Feeding Tubes provides information on the administration of drugs via enteral feeding tubes.
It is important to note that owing to the method of administration concerned, most of the recommendations and suggestions in this reference fall outside of the terms of the product licence for the drugs concerned. It must be borne in mind that any prescriber and practitioner administering a drug outside of the terms of its product licence accepts liability for any adverse effects experienced by the patient.
For qualified and trainee pharmacists and pharmacy technicians living or working across Wales, HEIW provides education and professional development via live events, distance learning packs, and e-Learning resources. HEIW also provides training for other healthcare professionals.
The Green Book contains the latest advice and information from the UK Health Security Agency on vaccines and vaccine procedures for vaccine-preventable infectious diseases in the UK.
Lab Tests Online-UK is written by practising laboratory doctors and scientists to help patients understand the many clinical laboratory tests that are used in diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of disease. It is produced by the Association for Laboratory Medicine in collaboration with the Royal College of Pathologists and the Institute of Biomedical Science.
Medicines for Children is a partnership programme of three organisations – WellChild, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacy Group (NPPG). These organisations ensure that expertise and views of patients and carers, paediatricians and paediatric pharmacists are used in the development of information leaflets and videos.
Medicines for Children provides leaflets for specific medicines and also for general advice, e.g. helping swallow tablets and side-effects, travelling with medicines and unlicensed medicines and types of medicines (asthma inhalers, capsules and tablets and liquid medicines, creams & ointments, ear drops, eye drops/ointments, nasogastric and gastrostomy tubes, part doses, rectal medicines). QR code posters are also available for download from the resources for healthcare professional page.
The MHRA regulates medicines, medical devices and blood components for transfusion in the UK. It is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care.
Useful information on this website includes SmPCs and PILs for products licensed for use in the UK, monthly Drug Safety Updates, and interactive Drug Analysis Profiles (iDAPs) of suspected adverse reactions that have been reported via the Yellow Card Scheme.
The Medicines Learning Portal is aimed at trainee and foundation level pharmacists in hospitals. It provides resources and expertise that will help UK pharmacists at the beginning of their careers to tackle the clinical problems that will confront them throughout their professional lives by:
- Providing knowledge about medicines, and addressing basic principles of medicines safety for key subject areas
- Showing the right questions to ask when problem-solving
- Recommending sources of information about medicines
- Guiding pharmacists on how to apply their professional judgement
- Advising on communication techniques for delivering expert advice
Medline contains more than 23 million citations from over 5600 indexed, scholarly, and peer-reviewed journals in the areas of biomedical research and the clinical sciences including nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, allied health and pre-clinical sciences. Medline can be accessed via the NHS Wales e-Library for Health. You will need to login using your NHS Wales Athens account to search Medline from a non-NHS Wales networked computer.
It is recommended that literature searches are performed using both Medline and Embase as they have different coverage.
Guides and webinars on how to search Medline via ProQuest and OVID are available via the NHS Wales e‑Library for Health.
MIMS, the Monthly Index of Medical Specialities, is a reference for general practice, providing prescribing information for products that can be prescribed in the UK. It includes a selection of drug reference tables, at-a-glance summaries of national treatment guidance, visual guides to diabetes and respiratory devices, and prescribing resources for specific disease areas. It also contains a shortage tracker which can be a useful tool.
Subscription required.
NICE‘s role is to improve outcomes for people using the NHS and other public health and social care services. They do this by:
- Producing evidence-based guidance and advice for health, public health and social care practitioners.
- Developing quality standards and indicators for those providing and commissioning health, public health and social care services.
- Providing a range of information services for commissioners, practitioners and managers across the spectrum of health and social care.
NPPG aims to improve the care of neonates, infants and children by advancing the development of pharmacists and the provision of quality pharmacy services. NPPG produces information and guidance to assist pharmacists and pharmacy technicians involved in the care of neonates, children and young people. Some resources are restricted to members only.
Access via the NHS Wales e-Library for Health.
The NEWT Guidelines aims to provide information relating to medicines management in patients with enteral feeding tubes or swallowing difficulties, and presents it in a practical fashion. Much of the information it contains relates to medication administration outside the marketing authorisation (product licence).For this reason, there is little scientific evidence to back up the information, and many of the recommendations are based on anecdotal reports which can be conflicting. Often the availability of information on a drug depends on the level of clinical experience with it, and therefore information about new drugs on the market is lacking.
The NHS website is the UK’s biggest health website. The website is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The content, data and services on the website are commissioned by NHS England.
There are thousands of freely available articles, videos and tools to help patients make the best choices about their health and wellbeing.
The Medicines A to Z includes information for patients on their medicines, directions for taking them, potential side effects and answers commonly asked questions, e.g. can I drink alcohol when taking this? The Health A to Z is a patient-friendly guide to conditions, symptoms and their treatment.
The OTC directory is a guide to consumer healthcare products that are available in the UK without prescription. It is intended to help with recommending suitable products to patients, encouraging self-care for self-treatable conditions and providing information on how to use over-the-counter products safely.
The Palliative Care Formulary provides guidance on drugs and treatment regimens to help improve quality of life in adult patients facing life-limiting diseases. Check syringe driver compatibility via the compatibility checker.
Clinical guidelines and other tools can be accessed here to support clinical decision making in palliative care. The drug monographs indicate doses and routes used in palliative care that may be unlicensed. The syringe driver drug compatibility tool and opioid dose convertor tool may also be useful.
The Renal Drug Database / Handbook provides practical information relating to drug use in renal impairment, sourced from the practical experience of renal units throughout the UK. By referring to the monographs, the user is guided in how to prescribe, prepare and administer the drug with due regard to drug interactions and to any renal replacement therapy the patient may be undergoing.
The information contained in this resource has been compiled from a wide range of sources and from the clinical experience of the editorial board of the UK Renal Pharmacy Group, all of whom are involved in the pharmaceutical care of renally-impaired patients. As such, some of the information contained in the monographs may differ from the licensed indications or use of the drug.
The Renal Drug Database requires a subscription for online access. The Renal Drug Handbook e-book can be accessed via the NHS Wales e-Library for Health.
The RCPCH is the UK professional body for paediatricians and health care professionals working in child health. It is responsible for postgraduate training of paediatricians. The RCPCH campaigns to improve child health both nationally and internationally. It develops clinical guidance and evidence reviews on behalf of NICE, growth charts, service standards, and supports research in order to improve children’s health outcomes.
The RCPharm are the professional body for pharmacists across the UK. They promote pharmacy in the media and government, provide medicines information, and support pharmacists in their education and development. The RCPharm also publishes Medicines, Ethics and Practice (MEP) annually. The RCPharm e-library contains a number of useful resources.
SPIRA dashboards can be accessed by users on the NHS Wales network. These provide an online interactive programme for comparative analysis of prescribing data.
Their dashboards include:
- National Prescribing Indicators
- Low Value for Prescribing
- Biosimilar Efficiencies
- Medicines Safety Dashboard
The NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service supports medicines optimisation across the NHS. Their main purpose is to help to improve the use of medicines so people live longer, fuller lives.
SPS has information and advice on:
- Commonly asked Medicines Information questions
- Safety in pregnancy
- Safety in breastfeeding
- Medicines supply e.g. shortages
- Missed or delayed doses
- Medicines planning
- Temperature management for medicines storage
- Medicines in compliance aids stability
- Medicines monitoring in primary care
Subscription (free) is required to access all the information available (e.g. medicines supply, medicines patent).
Stockley’s Drug Interactions is a comprehensive reference on drug interactions, providing concise and clinically relevant evidence-based information, covering therapeutic drugs, proprietary medicines, herbal medicines, foodstuffs, drinks, pesticides, and drugs of abuse.
Subscription required for online access.
4 Jun 26
Amended RPS to RCPharm.
9 Apr 26
Deleted Micromedex, updated URL for PallCare Matters.
19 Jul 24
Published.
