BNF for Children 2017-2018 (British National Formulary)
BNF for Children 2017-2018 aims
to provide prescribers, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals with
sound up-to-date information on the use of medicines for treating children.
Overview
The BNF for Children (BNFC)
is an independent professional publication that addresses the day-to-day
prescribing information needs of healthcare professionals involved in the care
of children. Use of this resource throughout the health service helps to ensure
that medicines are used safely, effectively, and appropriately.
Hundreds of changes are made
between print editions, and are published monthly in some digital formats. The
most clinically significant updates are listed under Changes p. xix.
BNFC is unique in bringing
together authoritative, independent guidance on best practice with clinically
validated drug information.
Information in BNFC has been
validated against emerging evidence, best-practice guidelines, and advice from
a network of clinical experts. BNFC includes a great deal of advice that goes
beyond marketing authorisations (product licences or summaries of product
characteristics). This is necessary because licensed indications frequently do
not cover the clinical needs of children; in some cases, products for use in
children need to be specially manufactured or imported. Careful consideration
has been given to establishing the clinical need for unlicensed interventions
with respect to the evidence and experience of their safety and efficacy.
Validation of information
follows a standardised process. Where the evidence base is weak, further
validation is undertaken through a process of peer review. The process and its
governance are outlined in greater detail in the sections that follow.
Paediatric Formulary
Committee
The Paediatric Formulary
Committee (PFC) is responsible for the content of BNFC. The PFC comprises
pharmacy, medical and nursing representatives with a paediatric background, and
lay representatives who have worked with children or acted as a carer of a paediatric
patient; there are also representatives from the Medicines and Healthcare
products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Department of Health for England. The
PFC decides on matters of policy and reviews amendments to BNFC in the light of
new evidence and expert advice.
Dental Advisory Group
The Dental Advisory Group
oversees the preparation of advice on the drug management of dental and oral
conditions; the group includes representatives from the British Dental
Association and a representative from the UK Health Departments.
Nurse Prescribers’ Advisory
Group
The Nurse Prescribers’
Advisory Group oversees the list of drugs approved for inclusion in the Nurse
Prescribers’ Formulary; the group includes representatives from a range of
nursing disciplines and stakeholder organisations.
Expert advisers
BNFC uses about 80 expert
clinical advisers (including doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and dentists)
throughout the UK to help with the clinical content. The role of these expert
advisers is to review existing text and to comment on amendments drafted by the
clinical writers. These clinical experts help to ensure that BNFC remains
reliable by:
For More Book:
BNF 80 (British National Formulary September 2020 - March 2021)
BNF 79 (British National Formulary March 2020 - September 2020)
BNF 78 (British National Formulary September 2019 - March 2020)
BNF 76 (British National Formulary September 2018 - March 2019)
BNF 74 (British National Formulary September 2017-March 2018)
BNF 73 (British National Formulary March 2017-September 2017)
BNF 71 (British National Formulary March-September 2016)
BNF 68 (British National Formulary September 2014- March 2015)
BNF 66 (British National Formulary September 2013- March 2014)