National Poisons Information Service
Abbreviation | NPIS |
---|---|
Formation | 1963 |
Type | Government agency |
Purpose | Toxicological advice for UK hospitals |
Location |
|
Region served | UK and Ireland |
Membership | British toxicologists |
Main organ | NPIS Clinical Standards Group |
Parent organization | Public Health England |
Affiliations | TOXBASE database, Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, Chemicals Regulation Directorate |
Website | NPIS |
The National Poisons Information Service is an information service commissioned by
History
In August 1962 the
It started in 1963 by Dr Roy Goulding[1] at the Medical Toxicology Unit of Guy's Hospital, with a staff of 65. By the late 1960s, recreational drugs were presenting a widespread danger. Other centres were soon set up in Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff.
UKTIS was based in Newcastle from 1995.
Structure
It has four units in Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Newcastle. It is a member of the European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists.
- NPIS Birmingham Unit (West Midlands Poisons Unit), City Hospital, Birmingham - Dr Sally Bradberry
- NPIS Cardiff Unit, Llandough Hospital - Dr Laurence Gray
- NPIS Edinburgh Unit (Scottish Poisons Information Bureau),[2] Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh - Dr. Euan Sandilands.
- NPIS Newcastle Unit, Regional Drug and Therapeutics Centre,[3] Newcastle University - Professor Simon Thomas
NPIS Birmingham has the NPIS Product Data Centre, provided by manufacturer's information, and deals with around 2,300 companies.
NPIS supports (24 hours) NHS Direct (for England and Wales) and (24 hours) NHS 24 for Scotland. Northern Ireland has its Northern Ireland Regional Medicines and Poisons Information Service in Belfast, and NPIS is used when this is not available. The Republic of Ireland uses the service, via the TOXBASE database, which is used by the country's National Poisons Information Centre.[4]
Of all UK nations, Wales has the highest proportionate number of enquiries to the service, with Northern Ireland the fewest. Within England, there is a distribution of higher number of enquiries to the service in the north than the south, with
Wednesday is the busiest day of the week for enquiries, with the fewest at the weekend.
Function
The NPIS operates a 24-hour telephone advice service and internet database TOXBASE (www.toxbase.org for registered healthcare departments only). TOXBASE is free for UK NHS departments, and available by subscription to departments outside the UK NHS. The TOXBASE app is also available for Apple and Android devices. The app is free for individual NHS users.
The TOXBASE database contains information on approximately 17,000 products, together with generic advice on the management of poisoning. In excess of 1.5 million product accesses are made to the database each year. Most of the accesses are made by A&E staff.
NHS 111, NHS 24 and NHS Direct all use the TOXBASE database. In the UK poisons information can also be found in the British National Formulary.
See also
- College of Emergency Medicine
- DrugScope
- Porton Down