British National Formulary
Free access to the complete text of the BNF is provided to visitors based in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and in the developing countries listed here.
Access to this service will be controlled via Athens authentication. If a computer is connected to NHSnet, it automatically passes through the authentication process and no log in is required. For non-NHSnet use, an NHS Athens account is required. (NHS users can obtain an NHS Athens account through national NHS libraries).
Non-NHS visitors to the BNF website will be asked to register to view the BNF content. Access to the BNF text will remain free-of-charge, but visitors will be required to log in. This log in will provide access to the BNF for a 30-minute session.
Those with a static Internet Protocol (IP) address for whom either a login or a 30-minute session is too restrictive, can take out a subscription to the BNF at http://www.medicinescomplete.com. Non-NHS subscribers to the BNF on MedicinesComplete who do not have a static IP address will have to log in, but sessions will last for up to 12 hours.
These requirements help the BNF to analyse use of the service and make it more effective.
Cookies are used to control access to the BNF on BNF.org. A cookie remains on the visitor’s PC until the browser window is closed, or the session times out. Sessions that do not require a login (because the visitor’s IP address has been recognised) are renewed every 8 hours without user intervention. Sessions that follow a login are 8 hours long for subscribers (or NHS end-users using an Athens password), and 30 minutes for non-subscribers. So, following a login, a subscriber or visitor using an NHS Athens password will have unrestricted access to the BNF for 8 hours provided the browser window is not closed. Other users who log in will have access to the BNF for 30 minutes with further sessions requiring another login.
A number of web and intranet sites currently link directly to specific records within the BNF on BNF.org in an unsupported manner. Such ‘deep linking’ will be subject to the access control arrangements described above. Users following a deep link from a computer within NHSnet will be able to follow the deep link in an uninterrupted manner. Other users will be required to log in before the page requested by the deep link is displayed. However, once a user has logged in (if login is required) deep links to the BNF can be followed in an unrestricted manner for the duration of the session.
Commercial users, including NHS suppliers and contractors, should not deep-link to the BNF service without first obtaining the appropriate licence from the BNF’s publishers. Service level guarantees can only be offered to licensed deep-linkers.
Versions of the BNF for use on standalone Windows and Macintosh computers, and Blackberry, Palm OS, and Windows Mobile handheld devices have been developed by Medhand International and Skyscape.
The intranet version of the BNF, developed by Clinical and Biomedical Computing Limited, enables viewing of BNF data on your intra/extranets using standard Web browser technologies. The BNF (Intranet) contains powerful access and navigational tools for customising the resource for local use. This version also includes the BNF Toolkit for constructing and maintaining BNF-based local formularies.
The BNF is available as part of the Pharmaceutical Press' integrated suite of healthcare references. MedicinesComplete provides subscription-based access to some of the world's leading drug and healthcare references, allowing integrated searching of many thousands of drug, poison, excipient, interaction and herbal monographs.
The BNF works with clinical systems suppliers to enable linking to BNF information. And suppliers may also choose to link to the BNF in an unsupported manner. Generally, the BNF aims to support ‘loose coupled’ integration, with BNF content being displayed in a generic browser component, formatted in the manner intended by its authors. This approach is taken for the following reasons:
