BNF Publications have been working to improve access to prescribing information for Community Practitioner Nurse Prescribers (CPNPs), by incorporating the NPF content within the BNF. As a result of this work, updates have been made to content within the BNF.

Up until now the NPF was available as a print-only publication that was published every two years. Incorporating the NPF content within the BNF means that this content is now available digitally, via the BNF app and online, and within BNF print editions, as described below. NPF users will also benefit from access to BNF content that was previously not included in the NPF, such as drug interactions.  

Within the BNF app, online versions of the BNF, and BNF80, the NPF list of medicinal preparations now includes:

• Cross-references to BNF monographs to make navigating from the list to the monograph quick and easy
• Indications for which CPNPs can prescribe a specific drug or preparation
• Additional information (e.g. when initial assessment by a doctor is required before prescribing, or where there is a usual maximum duration of treatment for a specific indication)
• Signposting to doses for CPNPs where these differ from the standard doses in the BNF

Within the BNF app and online versions of the BNF, the following information has been added:

• General guidance for CPNPs (Nurse Prescribers’ Formulary—General guidance) which includes information on prescribing for CPNPs
• Treatment summaries for CPNPs (e.g. Nurse Prescribers’ Formulary—Analgesics) which provide an overview of the drug management or prophylaxis of conditions that are commonly managed by CPNPs and/or information on the use of appliances, such as stoma appliances

For further details, see How to use the NPF which sits above the medicinal preparations section in the NPF list.