Healthcare professional resources (Guidelines)

Medication

• Medicines complete
  • BNF & BNF for Children
  • Critical illness
  • Drug Administration via Enteral Feeding Tubes
  • Herbal Medicines
  • Kucers' the Use of Antibiotics
  • Martindale, including its ADR checker
  • Palliative Care Formulary
  • Stockley's drug interaction
• Choice and Medication
  The preferred website for information about medication and conditions.  A large selection of leaflets are available to download and print including simplified leaflets with pictures that are suitable for younger adolescents and people with a lower reading ability, easy read leaflets for patients with learning disabilities or a significant reading impairment and leaflets translated into several languages.  The website also contains information 'handy charts' that compare the benefits and risks of psychotropic medicines for example, antipsychotics.
• EMC
  Up to date, approved and regulated prescribing information for licensed medicines – Manufacturer's summary of product characteristics (SmPC). and Patient Information Leaflets (PILs).
• Injectable Medicines Guide (password required) 
  The Injectable Medicines Guide (IMG) aims to provide guidance on the preparation and administration of injectable medicines in adult and paediatric clinical areas and a reference source for organisations preparing an injectable medicines administration policy.
• NEWT Guidelines (password required)
  Information on the administration of medication to patients with enteral feeding tubes or swallowing difficulties.
• Renal Drug Database (password required)
  Access to over 800 drug monographs, The Renal Drug Database is a key source of prescribing information for clinical and medicines information pharmacists.  Each monograph provides information on criteria including Clinical Use, Dose in Normal Renal Function, Dose in Renal Impairment, Important Drug Interactions, Metabolism and Administration, with information validated under the governance of the UK Renal Pharmacy Group.
• Specialist Pharmacy Service
  Resource to support answering medicines-related questions in primary care for NHS Scotland.

National guidance

• SIGN Guidelines
  The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) was formed in 1993. Its objective is to improve the quality of health care for patients in Scotland by reducing variation in practice and outcome, through the development and dissemination of national clinical guidelines containing recommendations for effective practice based on current evidence.
• NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS)
  The NICE CKS service provides primary care practitioners with a readily accessible summary of the current evidence base and practical guidance on best practice in respect of over 330 common and/or significant primary care presentations.  The service is regularly maintained and upgraded as and when significant new evidence emerges.
• NICE Guidelines
  The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care.  They provide guidance, advice, quality standards and information services for health, public health and social care, which also contains resources to help maximise use of evidence and guidance. 
• Right Decision Service
  The Right Decision Service is a 'Once for Scotland' source of digital tools that enable people to make safe decisions quickly ‘on the go’, based on validated evidence. It provides health and social care organisations with tools to build decision-ready guidance, pathways, risk scoring tools, shared decision aids and other decision support resources. These tools are all delivered through this Right Decision Service website and mobile app. Includes: Polypharmacy Guidelines & Scottish Palliative Care Guidelines

Point-of-Care guidance

• BMJ Best Practice 
• Dynamed (Log in required, eg Open Athens)
• UptoDate  (Log in required, eg Open Athens)

Investigations

• iRefer (password required)
  Provides the most appropriate imaging investigations or intervention for any diagnostic or imaging problem

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) letters