Scotland's Go To Platform for Quality Assured Decision Support Tools for Health and Social Care

This app gives practitioners quick and easy access to national and local guidance on antimicrobial prescribing in primary and secondary care. It includes:

• Dosage calculators for gentamicin and vancomycin
• Antibiotic prescribing guidance for primary care and hospitals which can be customised by each health board.
• A decision aid to support management of urinary tract infections in older people
• An audit tool to support Boards in gathering data for Scottish Government antimicrobial quality indicators (this feature is password controlled and administered by the Antimicrobial Management Team in each board).

Provides step by step guidance for clinician use at point of care on diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and prevention on a wide range of clinical conditions. Updated daily using robust evidence based methodology and expert opinion. Includes clinical calculators, procedural videos, drug information, patient leaflets.

The BNF aims to provide prescribers, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals with sound up-to-date information about the use of medicines. The BNF includes key information on the selection, prescribing, dispensing and administration of medicines. Medicines generally prescribed in the UK are covered and those considered less suitable for prescribing are clearly identified. Little or no information is included on medicines promoted for purchase by the public. BNF for Children should be consulted for detailed information on the use of medicines in children.

The aim of these guidelines is to facilitate appropriate referral between primary and secondary care for patients whom a GP suspects may have cancer. The guidelines are intended to help GPs, the wider primary care team, other clinicians and patients and carers to identify patients who are most likely to have cancer and who therefore require urgent assessment by a specialist.

Collections of pathways created by health and care organisations using the Clinical Knowledge Publisher. Each organisation’s pathways are freely accessible and searchable.

Provides primary care practitioners with a readily accessible summary of the current evidence base and practical guidance on best practice in respect of over 330 common and/or significant primary care presentations.

Aims to support Primary Care practitioners in Scotland in the diagnosis and management of patients presenting with common skin conditions. A brief illustrated description of each skin condition is followed by treatment recommendations and links to sources of additional information for both doctor and patient. Criteria for referral to Dermatology are included, highlighting red-flag presentations that merit expedited referral, or identifying certain treatments can only be initiated in Secondary Care.

A clinical reference resource which includes thousands of topics containing evidence-based information, to support clinicians to make informed decisions quickly and easily at the point of care.

Provides assessment and management pathways, patient information and a shared decision aid (for IBS) to support timely and appropriate assessment, management and referral of patients with gastrointestinal conditions. Focuses particularly on coeliac disease, irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease - ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Developed as part of the Modern Outpatient Programme.

Provides evidence-based medical calculators, equations, algorithms and scores, written by physician experts support 35+ specialties and cover 200+ patient conditions. While primarily serving clinicians in North America, it also has users in nearly 200 countries. Applies a quality threshold to calculators included in the app based on the robustness of the evidence and validation trials; includes “Pearls and Pitfalls” content to point out any calculator shortcomings.

Developed by NHS Highland as a one-stop-portal to house all of north NHS Highland therapeutic information for everyone to use; members of the public and primary and secondary care staff. It contains formulary information, local and national therapeutic guidelines and patient information.Provides therapeutic guidelines, antimicrobial guidance, formularies, patient information and links to further clinical resources.

Designed to help GPs and other clinicians make the best possible referrals within Lothian.

Originally developed through the Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP), this app provides: A National Early Warning Scoring System (NEWS) calculator to alert clinicians to the deteriorating patient and acute illness A qSOFA criteria calculator to identify adults with proven or suspected infection who are likely to have a prolonged ICU stay or die in hospital An outline of the Sepsis 6 care bundle for the treatment of Sepsis An algorithm to help identify Sepsis and Organ Dysfunction, Septic Shock and when to escalate care for the individual patient.

Provides essential independent information for health professionals about drugs used in palliative and hospice care. It includes unlicensed (unlabeled) indications and routes, and details about the administration of multiple drugs by continuous subcutaneous infusion.

Based on the Polypharmacy Guidance 3rd edition, 2018, this resource provides guidance on addressing inappropriate polypharmacy at every stage of the patient journey. Outlines a 7-Steps Medicines Review process centred on the principle of what matters to the individual patient. Includes professional-facing and patient/carer-facing resources to support shared decision-making. This provides information and simple visuals to illustrate benefits (NNTs) and risks of medicines highlighted in the guidance as potential candidates to consider for stopping in patients with inappropriate polypharmacy,

SAFER helps to generate management plans for pregnant women based on their family history, personal history and information collected throughout their pregnancy. Curently this app is only available for use within NHS Borders.  Clinicians in NHS Borders should contact the local administrator .

In final stages of development. SPOT will enable clinicians to access up to date prescribing information and calculate drug dosages through their smartphones, including iOS and Android. It will aid clinicians to prescribe adequate analgesia, improving patient outcomes, and thereby lower healthcare costs by reducing admissions due to dosage error. All prescriptions using SPOT are recorded, improving communication within and between multidisciplinary teams. SPOT can be used for clinical governance purposes, improving accountability for prescribing, and providing evidence for revalidation.

The Scottish Palliative Care Guidelines reflect a consensus of opinion about good practice in the management of adult patients with life limiting illness. They are designed for healthcare professionals from any care setting who are involved in supporting people with a palliative life-limiting condition. The guidelines have been developed by a multidisciplinary group of professionals working in the community, hospital and specialist palliative care services throughout Scotland. The guidelines have been developed in accordance with AGREE criteria and are supported by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care.

Re-usable resource version of Quick Reference Guide for SIGN guideline 136 - Management of chronic pain. This guideline provides recommendations based on current evidence for best practice in the assessment and management, in non-specialist settings, of adults with chronic non-malignant pain, defined for the purposes of this guideline as pain that has been present for more than 12 weeks. Self management, pharmacological, psychological, physical, complementary and dietary therapies are covered. This guideline is relevant to all healthcare professionals involved in the assessment and management of patients with chronic pain, including general practitioners, pharmacists, anaesthetists, psychologists, psychiatrists, physiotherapists, rheumatologists, occupational therapists, nurses, patients, carers and voluntary organisations with an interest in chronic pain.

Access on the move to SIGN guidelines and Quick Reference Guides.

The world’s most comprehensive and authoritative international reference book on drug interactions. Based upon thousands of published papers and reports, it: Covers interactions between therapeutic drugs, proprietary medicines, herbal medicines, foods, drinks, and drugs of abuse Contains in-depth yet concise monographs in an easy-to-read format Provides comprehensive details of the clinical evidence for the interactions under discussion, an assessment of their clinical importance, and clear guidance on managing the interaction in practice Has a brief summary of the interaction in each monograph – perfect for the busy healthcare professional Is fully referenced throughout Contains almost 4500 monographs