Executive summary
In the fast-paced environment of UK clinical practice, making faster, safer decisions hinges on having authoritative, UK-aligned, and easily accessible information at the point of care. The digital toolkit available to clinicians in 2025 is more powerful than ever, but knowing what to use and when is a critical skill in itself.
This guide provides a pragmatic, role-agnostic map to the essential point-of-care (POC) tools that UK clinicians actually use. We will cover the landscape of guideline summaries, medicines information resources, evidence search and AI-powered Q&A platforms, quick-reference sites, and validated clinical calculators. Our promise is to provide a clear overview with direct links to official access routes, such as using OpenAthens for BMJ Best Practice, to help you build the most efficient and effective clinical toolkit.
Core UK guidance layer (policy → practice)
This is the foundation of evidence-based practice in the NHS.
- NICE Guidance: These are the comprehensive, evidence-based national recommendations that anchor UK health policy and define clinical care pathways (BNF).
- NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS): Designed specifically for primary care and first-contact clinicians, CKS provides over 370 concise, practical summaries on common presentations. For the question "what should I do now?", CKS is often the best first stop (NICE).
- SIGN: The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network produces rigorously developed guidelines that frequently complement NICE guidance and are highly respected across the UK.
Medicines & prescribing (the safety bedrock)
For all prescribing decisions, these resources are the definitive source of truth.
- BNF / BNFC: The British National Formulary (and its paediatric counterpart) is the UK's authoritative reference for dosing, contraindications, and drug interactions. It is accessible online via NICE and MedicinesComplete, as well as through excellent mobile apps (BNF, Pharmaceutical Press).
- Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS): The SPS is the NHS’s “first stop” for expert and practical medicines advice. It provides essential "how-to" implementation guidance for complex medication issues and is an invaluable resource for all prescribers (SPS - Specialist Pharmacy Service).
Point-of-care summaries & compendia
These platforms synthesise a vast range of evidence into structured, digestible topics for use at the bedside or in clinic.
- BMJ Best Practice: Freely available to all NHS staff via OpenAthens, this tool provides structured guidance on diagnosis, management, and comorbidities. Its excellent mobile app supports offline content downloads, making it ideal for hospital environments (BMJ Group access).
- UpToDate (AI Labs): A globally recognised resource, UpToDate is continuously developing its generative-AI enhancements through its AI Labs to provide more conversational and context-aware search over its vast evidence corpus (Wolters Kluwer).
- DynaMedex / Dyna AI: This platform uses a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architecture to deliver citation-first, evidence-based answers from its curated medical databases. Dyna AI is now available to individual subscribers, bringing its powerful Q&A capabilities to a wider audience (more.ebsco.com).
Evidence search & AI Q&A (fast, sourced answers)
When you need to find a specific piece of evidence quickly, these AI-enhanced search tools are designed for speed and reliability.
- Trip Database & AskTrip: Trip is a powerful clinical search engine that intelligently filters results to prioritise guidelines and high-quality systematic reviews. Its new AskTrip feature provides AI-powered Q&A that returns answers linked directly to the evidence (tripdatabase.com).
- Medwise AI: A UK-centred search tool with a unique focus on retrieving guidance from local NHS Trust documents alongside national sources. It is currently being evaluated in prospective pilots to measure its impact on clinician user experience and time-to-answer (PMC).
- iatroX (Ask & Brainstorm): A UK-guideline-grounded platform that provides evidence-linked Q&A via its Ask iatroX feature and a structured thinking aid for education and reference with its Brainstorm tool.
Quick reference sites (useful for “just-in-time” look-ups)
- GPnotebook / Primary Care Notebook: A vast library of over 30,000 pages of concise, GP-written articles, designed for very rapid look-ups during a consultation (GPnotebook).
- Patient.info (Professional hub): A trusted source of evidence-based articles, clinical features, and calculators written for a professional primary care audience (Patient Info).
Calculators (embed or bookmark the trusted ones)
- QRISK3: This is the official, NICE-recommended calculator for assessing 10-year cardiovascular disease risk in primary prevention. Always use the canonical qrisk.org site (QRISK).
- MDCalc: A widely used, comprehensive library of medical calculators. While extremely useful, always apply clinical judgment and ensure the calculator you are using aligns with current NICE or local NHS practice (MDCalc).
Micro-workflows (copy-ready boxes)
- Common presentation (e.g., rash): Start with CKS for first-line steps → Consult PCDS (Primary Care Dermatology Society) if more detail is needed → Check the BNF for treatment specifics → Use SPS for tricky administration queries → Document sources in your note.
- Medication query: Check the BNF for dosing/contraindications → Use SPS for specialist, legal, or PGD-related advice → Log a Yellow Card if you suspect an adverse reaction.
- Rapid evidence check: Use AskTrip or Medwise AI for a quick synthesis with direct links to sources → Open the original NICE/CKS guideline to verify → Summarise in your clinical plan.
- Education/teaching moment: Use iatroX Brainstorm to structure differentials for a case (for educational purposes only) → Compare the output with the relevant CKS/NICE pathway.
Selection criteria & buyer’s checklist
- Access & licensing: Confirm your OpenAthens entitlement for BMJ Best Practice. Prioritise tools with good mobile apps and offline modes.
- Provenance: Does the tool show its work? Look for clear citations by default, a key feature of Dyna AI, AskTrip, and iatroX.
- UK alignment: Does the tool cover NICE/CKS and, ideally, local Trust guidance (a key feature of Medwise AI)?
- Speed & UX: Aim for "one-to-two click" answers that minimise switching between your EPR and a browser.
- Governance: Prefer RAG-grounded systems for safety and always maintain a human-in-the-loop verification step.
FAQ block
- Is BMJ Best Practice free for NHS staff?
- Yes, it is funded by NHS England and can be accessed for free by logging in via your institutional OpenAthens account. This also unlocks the full mobile app with offline content.
- Which AI tools show sources by default?
- Dyna AI and AskTrip are designed to provide citation-linked answers from global literature. iatroX provides answers linked specifically to UK guidelines for educational and reference use.
- Where should I check dosing?
- The BNF/BNFC is the definitive source for all standard dosing and contraindication queries. For more specialist or complex medicines advice, use the SPS.
- What’s the official QRISK calculator?
- The official calculator is QRISK3, hosted at qrisk.org. Older links should redirect, and all clinical system suppliers are advised to migrate to this version.