Prescribing errors are the most common cause of patient safety incidents in primary care. Your prescribing toolkit needs to be robust from day one.
BNF (Non-Negotiable)
The baseline prescribing reference. Dosing, interactions, contraindications, monitoring, cautionary advice. Free app for NHS. Install before your first clinical session. Use for every prescribing decision — not just unfamiliar drugs. Even familiar prescriptions may have interactions in specific patients.
Medstopper (Essential for Polypharmacy)
Deprescribing guidance — when and how to stop medications. Essential for elderly patients on multiple drugs. Provides evidence-based stopping protocols for common medications. Free. Particularly useful for medication reviews and QOF chronic disease management.
UKTIS (Essential for Pregnancy)
UK Teratology Information Service — the definitive resource for prescribing safety in pregnancy. Surpasses BNF for pregnancy-specific safety data with detailed risk assessments for individual drugs. Essential when a patient of childbearing potential needs medication with reproductive safety concerns.
Stockley's Drug Interactions
Comprehensive interaction database for complex polypharmacy queries beyond BNF's interaction checker. When BNF says "may interact" but you need to know the clinical significance and management, Stockley's provides the depth.
NICE CKS Prescribing Sections
Evidence-based prescribing pathways within management guidance. First-line, second-line, and alternative treatment options with dosing and monitoring.
Ask iatroX
Synthesises prescribing information across BNF and clinical literature. Useful for complex queries — "can I prescribe X alongside Y in a patient with Z?" — where switching between multiple tools would be slow.
AKT Prescribing
Expect 10-15% of clinical AKT questions to test prescribing knowledge — drug choices, dose adjustments in renal impairment, interactions, pregnancy safety. BNF is your primary revision source for these questions.
Common Trainee Prescribing Errors
Not checking interactions in polypharmacy. Not adjusting doses for renal function. Not knowing pregnancy safety classifications. Prescribing based on habit rather than current guidelines. Not documenting prescribing rationale.
Where iatroX Fits
Ask iatroX pulls from BNF and clinical literature for prescribing queries — useful when the question spans multiple drugs or clinical contexts and switching between tools would be slow.