British National Formulary

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British National Formulary
British National Formulary 65 cover image.jpg
The standard cover design is easily identified with each six-monthly edition distinguished by a different jacket colour. BNF 65 (March 2013) is shown.
Author(s) British Medical Association and Royal Pharmaceutical Society
Country United Kingdom
Language British English
Subject(s) Medicine
Genre(s) Medical reference
Publisher British Medical Journal Publishing Group and Pharmaceutical Press
Publication date March 2013
ISBN 978-0-85711-084-8
OCLC Number 299701920
Preceded by 978-0-85711-065-7

The British National Formulary (BNF)[1][2][3][4][5][6] is a medical and pharmaceutical reference book that contains a wide spectrum of information and advice on prescribing and pharmacology, along with specific facts and details about many medicines available on the National Health Service (NHS), including indication(s), contraindications, side effects, doses, legal classification, names and prices of available proprietary and generic formulations, and any other notable points.[7] Though it is a national formulary, it nevertheless also includes entries for some medicines which are not available under the NHS and must be prescribed and/or bought privately (such as alprazolam tablets or minoxidil solution). A symbol clearly denotes such drugs in their entry.

It is used by doctors (both general practitioners and specialist practitioners), and by other prescribing and non-prescribing healthcare professionals (such as nurses, paramedics, and pharmacists) to help them use drugs optimally to care for patients as appropriately as possible. For example, it would be a useful reference source for nurses who administer medications on hospital wards, and even for patients and others seeking an authoritative source of advice on any aspect of pharmacotherapy.

Contents

Development[edit]

Many individuals and organisations contribute towards the preparation of the BNF. It is jointly published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the BMJ Group, which is owned by the British Medical Association. It is published under the authority of a Joint Formulary Committee which comprises representatives of the two professional bodies and the Department of Health.

Information on drugs is drawn from the manufacturers' product literature, medical and pharmaceutical literature, regulatory authorities and professional bodies. Advice is constructed from clinical literature and reflects, as far as possible, an evaluation of the evidence from diverse sources. The BNF also takes account of authoritative national guidelines and emerging safety concerns. In addition, the Joint Formulary Committee takes advice on all therapeutic areas from expert clinicians; this ensures that the BNF's recommendations are relevant to practice.

Editions[edit]

A new edition is published twice a year, in March and September. The current edition is 65, which was published in March 2013. As a custom, the colour of each edition is radically different to the previous; edition 60 was cyan, medition 61 is cheddar, edition 62 is green, edition 63 is blue, edition 64 is red, and edition 65 is purple.

Availability[edit]

The BNF is available as a book, a website and a mobile app. The book is available for purchase and also distributed to healthcare professionals in the UK at no direct cost to them.[8] The content is available on-line at bnf.org.[1] Internet visitors to bnf.org who have an IP address in the UK, Channel Islands and developing countries[9] can access the full text of BNF free of charge. Visitors with IP addresses in all other countries can subscribe to the BNF online.[10] Healthcare organisations can also subscribe to a customisable BNF via their intranet online.[11] In June 2012, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence released applications for offline access to the BNF on iOS and Android devices. It requires an NHS Athens log-in to do this.[12]

Sister publications[edit]

The British National Formulary for Children (BNF-C)[13][14] is published yearly, and details the doses and uses of medicines in children. There are also editions specially for nurses - The Nurse Prescriber's Formulary and The Extended Nurse Prescriber's Formulary, although with the recent changes to allow Extended Nurse Prescribers to prescribe from the full BNF, the fate of the latter publication is in some doubt.

Sections[edit]

The BNF is divided into various sections with the main sections on drugs and preparations being organised by body system.

Table of Contents

  • Preface
  • General information and late changes
  • General Reference
  • Guidance on prescribing
  • Emergency treatment of poisoning
  • Medical emergencies in the community

Notes on drugs and preparations

  1. Gastro-intestinal system
  2. Cardiovascular system
  3. Respiratory system
  4. Central nervous system
  5. Infections
  6. Endocrine system
  7. Obstetrics, gynaecology, and urinary-tract disorders
  8. Malignant disease and immunosuppression
  9. Nutrition and blood
  10. Musculoskeletal and joint diseases
  11. Eye
  12. Ear, nose, and oropharynx
  13. Skin
  14. Immunological products and vaccines
  15. Anaesthesia

Appendixes and indexes

  • Appendix 1 Interactions
  • Appendix 2 Liver disease
  • Appendix 3 Renal impairment
  • Appendix 4 Pregnancy
  • Appendix 5 Breast-feeding
  • Appendix 6 Intravenous additives
  • Appendix 7 Borderline substances
  • Appendix 8 Wound management products and elastic hosiery
  • Appendix 9 Cautionary and advisory labels for dispensed medicines
  • Dental Practitioners’ Formulary
  • Nurse Prescribers’ Formulary
  • Index of manufacturers
  • Special-order manufacturers
  • Yellow Card Scheme[15]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b http://www.bnf.org British National Formulary website
  2. ^ Aronson, J. K. (2004). "Drug interactions-information, education, and the British National Formulary". British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 57 (4): 371–372. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2125.2004.02125.x. PMC 1884473. PMID 15025733.  edit
  3. ^ Wade, O. L. (1993). "British National Formulary: Its birth, death, and rebirth". BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 306 (6884): 1051–1054. PMC 1676980. PMID 8490505.  edit
  4. ^ Anon (1978). "British National Formulary 1976-8". British medical journal 2 (6136): 580–581. PMC 1606955. PMID 20792725.  edit
  5. ^ Wade, O. L.; McDevitt, G. D. (1966). "Prescribing and the british national formulary". British medical journal 2 (5514): 635–637. PMC 1943465. PMID 20791099.  edit
  6. ^ Anon (1957). "The British National Formulary". British medical journal 2 (5047): 758–759. PMID 13460381.  edit
  7. ^ About the BNF
  8. ^ https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/nhs-evidence-content/bnf
  9. ^ Countries with free access to BNF and BNF for Children on MedicinesComplete
  10. ^ http://www.medicinescomplete.com/mc/ MedicinesComplete
  11. ^ http://www.bnfformularycomplete.com BNF on FormularyComplete
  12. ^ http://www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/nicewebsitedevelopment/NICEApps.jsp NICE apps
  13. ^ Elias-Jones, A.; Rylance, G. (2005). "The launch of the British National Formulary for Children". Archives of Disease in Childhood 90 (10): 997–998. doi:10.1136/adc.2005.080366. PMC 1720111. PMID 16177154.  edit
  14. ^ http://bnfc.org/bnfc/ British National Formulary for Children
  15. ^ http://www.yellowcard.gov.uk Yellow Card
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