Clinical Evidence

This month sees the publication of a new resource for clinicians

Clinical review p 1600 See advertisement opposite p 1598 (CR edition), p 1621 (GP), p 1567 (Compact and International)

This week's BMJ carries a sample of information from a new resource for clinicians, Clinical Evidence, which will be launched later this month (p 1600). The inspiration for Clinical Evidence came in a phone call in 1995. Tom Mann and his colleagues at the NHS Executive asked the BMJ to explore the possibility of developing an evidence “formulary” along the lines of the British National Formulary. They recognised that clinicians were under increasing pressure to keep up to date and to base their practice more firmly on evidence but that few had the necessary time or skills to do this. Their idea was to provide a pocket-size book containing concise and regularly updated summaries of the best available evidence on clinical interventions.

A small team at the BMJ set …