Poisoning resources are most useful when their roles are clear before the shift begins. UK clinicians need access to the national poisons-information service, a way to investigate specialist questions and a learning routine that turns a difficult encounter into better understanding.
TOXBASE and the National Poisons Information Service form the central UK clinical route. TOXINZ and EXTRIP have distinct reference roles, while iatroX helps clinicians connect underlying concepts with referenced explanation and question-led learning. The official sources in this guide were checked on 10 November 2026.
Start with the UK clinical route
The NPIS healthcare-professional guidance identifies TOXBASE as the first source for healthcare professionals seeking poisons information in the UK. TOXBASE is created and maintained by NPIS, and NHS facilities can register for free. For more serious or complex cases, NPIS provides individual advice through its 24-hour telephone service; its professional page directs urgent enquiries to that route.
For a new rotation or clinical role, locate the access and contact arrangements used by your organisation. Make sure you can open the resource through the device and account available during work. A familiar name in a bookmark list is less useful than a working route you have already checked.
The NPIS website also distinguishes professional clinical enquiries from administrative contact. Keep the professional clinical route easy to find, alongside your local arrangements for emergency care and escalation.
A shortlist organised around the task
| Resource | Main contribution | A useful question for the clinician |
|---|---|---|
| TOXBASE | NPIS-maintained poisons information for UK professionals | Can I access the relevant current entry through my service? |
| NPIS telephone advice | Individual specialist advice for the clinical enquiry | What information will make the enquiry clear and complete? |
| TOXINZ | A subscription poisons database with international scope | Does my organisation hold access, and which reference task will I use it for? |
| EXTRIP | Recommendations concerning extracorporeal treatment in poisoning | Is this the specific specialist question being considered? |
| iatroX Ask | Source-linked explanation of a focused UK clinical learning question | Which mechanism or distinction do I need to understand? |
| iatroX questions and Tutor | Practice and review of the reasoning behind an answer | Can I apply the concept independently in a changed case? |
This division lets a clinician prepare both the immediate reference route and the follow-up learning. Each resource earns its place through the task it supports.
TOXINZ and EXTRIP provide different specialist depth
TOXINZ describes a professional poisons database covering medicines, chemicals, household products, plants and other exposures. Its publisher offers annual subscription access and a trial-enquiry route. For a hospital comparing specialist references, assess the content needed by the service and the access arrangements already available.
An international poisons database and the UK national advice service should be understood through their respective scopes and local use. The useful comparison is the reference question, the available information and the route for resolving a complex enquiry. A headline database size supplies little information about those practical requirements.
EXTRIP focuses on extracorporeal treatments in poisoning. Its recommendations are organised around particular agents, with links to the supporting work. That makes it relevant to a defined specialist discussion about blood purification, rather than every question arising from a possible exposure.
When using any source, retain the agent or uncertainty about it, formulation, time course and relevant observations in the question you are investigating. That makes the basis of the reference search visible to the next clinician.
iatroX helps the reasoning become reusable
Ask iatroX is a useful place to explore the underlying UK clinical question after identifying the reference route for care. A clinician might want a source-linked explanation of why two ECG findings represent different mechanisms, or why a change in a blood-gas result alters the interpretation of a fictional poisoning case.
The benefit is focus: instead of rereading an entire toxicology chapter, identify the distinction that caused difficulty and work through it. Open the linked sources, write the explanation in your own words and decide which part needs another independent attempt. The Medicines area can support related product-information learning where that is the relevant task.
For structured retrieval practice, choose a relevant supported bank in the iatroX exam catalogue, including MRCEM SBA for UK emergency-medicine knowledge. Tutor then helps explore the reasoning behind a question already attempted. This connects an encounter's learning point with practice that asks you to use it again, rather than merely recognise an explanation.
A fictional post-shift learning session
A fictional emergency-medicine trainee reviews an encounter in which a medicine container initially dominated their thinking. The eventual assessment involved several possible explanations. The trainee's learning question is about inference: which observations supported a mechanism, and which details were only evidence of possible access?
They first review the encounter with their supervisor and the relevant professional sources. Then they write an original teaching vignette with a different exposure history. An iatroX learning discussion helps them separate observed findings, reported information and assumptions. A subsequent question tests whether they can preserve that distinction when another familiar clue appears.
The record focuses on the improved reasoning habit: state what is known, attribute the history accurately and keep uncertainty visible. A focused iatroX CPD session can help structure related learning, Tutor review and a personalised reflection. The next attempt should reveal whether the habit transfers.
Frequently asked questions
Where should UK professionals start for poisons information?
NPIS identifies TOXBASE as the first source and provides a 24-hour telephone route for individual advice, including serious or complex enquiries. Check your organisation's access and contact arrangements before you need them.
Is EXTRIP a general poisoning database?
Its particular contribution is evidence and recommendations about extracorporeal treatment in poisoning. Use it for that specialist question within the wider clinical discussion.
How does iatroX add value alongside these references?
It helps turn the difficult concept behind an encounter into referenced explanation, question practice and guided review. That gives the clinician a practical route from the immediate information need to a clearer, reusable reasoning skill.