Skip to main content

Quick Guide to BNF / BNFc

Get access to the information you need on drugs and medicines.

What is it?

The BNF is the British National Formulary and the BNFc is the British National Formulary for Children. These are the key authoritative, reference texts for information about drugs and medications, provided especially for UK healthcare staff.

How to Access…

Who is it for?

These texts are available for NHS staff and healthcare students.

Log in

The BNF and BNFc are available in a range of formats. You will need login details for some formats but not all.

  • Keele Staff and Students – use your Keele login details
  • NHS Staff – use your NHS OpenAthens username / password


Key Formats

Print Book

We hold print versions of the BNF and the BNFc within the Health Library. These are available for reference. You can find the BNF at shelf mark RS125.B7 and the BNFc at shelf mark RJ560.B7.

Medicines Complete (login required)

The BNF and BNFc are available online via the Medicines Complete interface. You will need to log in to access Medicines Complete. More drugs-based texts may be available within Medicines Complete dependent on the subscription of your organisation.

NICE Evidence (freely available)

An online version of both the BNF and BNFc is available via the NICE Evidence website:

Home page for the BNF on the NICE Evidence website
Home page for the BNF on the NICE Evidence website


Mobile App

A mobile app is available from the publishers, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. One app contains content to both texts. Search for “BNF Publications” on your App Store. The app is free and no login is required. Please check the terms and conditions for allowed use.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Access the big 4 medical journals for free

  Get articles on key, major trials and practice changing news. You can access the big 4 key journals for free. What are the big 4 medical journals? The big 4 medical journals are: BMJ (British Medical Journal) The Lancet NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine) JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) How do you access the big 4 journals? NHS staff can access all 4 journals online using the same username / password – your NHS OpenAthens username / password. Not sure what an OpenAthens username is? Complete our etutorial. Get your OpenAthens username by completing the online form . Keele University staff and students get automatic access on campus but will need to use their email address and password to log in when off-campus. Where can you access the big 4 journals from? Our journal collections are not necessarily available from the publishers’ websites. NHS staff can browse our journal collections on Browzine. Whereas Keele University staff...

BMJ Case Reports from UHNM staff

 BMJ Case Reports is available to UHNM staff both to view full-text and to submit your own case reports. There have been 2 recent case reports submitted by UHNM staff: Penetrating head trauma unbeknown to the patient David Bristow and Shayda Karimi Abstract Penetrating head trauma often leads to significant morbidity or mortality. A man presented to our tertiary centre with concerns of a nail in his brain after work colleagues reviewed closed-circuit television footage which appeared to show a pneumatic nail gun discharging against his head during an incident at work 4 days earlier. Remarkably, the patient reported no symptoms and no clinical signs apart from a small scabbed area on his scalp. A CT scan of his head was performed which showed a 4 cm nail lodged within the parietal lobe of his brain. The patient subsequently underwent a craniotomy with removal of the nail along with antimicrobial cover with antibiotics and tetanus prophylaxis. The patient made a full recovery and was...

Introduction to Literature Searching

 Are you ready to start your assignment? Are you preparing to complete a literature search? Complete our etutorial Introduction to Literature Searching :  Learn why planning is so important Follow these steps and make your literature search quicker, easier and more comprehensive Get your plan for your assignment or project