National Prescribing Service

The National Prescribing Service Limited or NPS is an independent provider of medical information in Australia. Their mission is to support the safe and effective use of medicines. They are a leading advocate for the Quality Use of Medicines (QUM), providing evidence-based information and services to health professionals and the community.

The NPS is an independent non-profit organisation, established in March 1998, funded by the Commonwealth Government Department of Health and Ageing. The NPS achieves its aims by working in partnership with general practitioners, pharmacists, specialists, other health professionals, the government, pharmaceutical industry, consumer organisations, and directly with the community.

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Information services

Telephone services

The NPS runs a Medicines Line to provide consumers with access to independent information about medicines including:

• advice on prescribed and over-the-counter medications
• providing Consumer Medicines Information (CMI) leaflets
• referral to other health services and organisations
• referral to health professionals

Health professionals can access the Therapeutic Advice and Information Service (TAIS) which provides independent drugs and therapeutics information including:

• drug interactions and management
• adverse drug reactions, including those not reported in product literature
• safety of drugs in pregnancy and lactation
• use of drugs for unlicensed indications ("off label" use)
• new drugs

Publications

The NPS produces several publications including:

• Australian Prescriber – bimonthly journal
• NPS News
• Pharmacy Letter – distributed five times a year to pharmacists
• NPS RADAR – Rational Assessment of Drugs and Research

Conferences/seminars

The NPS organises seminars and conferences independent of the pharmaceutical industry including:

• NPS Summit
• The Leading Edge – new drugs seminars

Campaigns

Community

Some of the community campaigns launched by the NPS have included:

• Medimate – a booklet for consumers to educate and assist on the quality use of medicines
• Common colds need common sense – support material for health professionals to educate consumers that antibiotics are inappropriate for the common cold

The NPS also has a rural program that provides funding to rural locations for community projects.

Health professionals

Some of the NPS campaigns targeted at health professionals have included:

• Clinical audits for GPs– topics have included Antibiotic use in urinary tract infection, etc
• Self-audits for pharmacists – topics have included Drug use in Type 2 Diabetes, etc