EXCLUSIVE

Two thirds of readers do not think this autumn’s changes to the British National Formulary (BNF) will make it easier to use, a C+D poll has revealed.

Twenty-three per cent of 133 respondents to the poll said the changes to the text’s shape, layout and structure will make “no difference” to how they use it, while 44% said the changes will make it harder to find the information they want.

Only 33% of respondents to the poll, which ran on the C+D website on November 5-12, said the changes will make it easier to locate information.

Copies of the latest BNF were distributed to pharmacies last month, and BNF director Karen Baxter told C+D that it is hard for pharmacists to judge the text’s usefulness “very early in the life of a new product”.

“Whenever you make a change, there’s a greater tendency for those who dislike the change to be vocal. That said, some people are really happy with the changes and wonder why it has taken us so long to do them,” she said.

In response to feedback that the new-look BNF is “difficult to read”, the team is considering increasing the spacing between lines of text, she added.

Numark head of information services Gary Choo said the new BNF seems “cumbersome and information-heavy at first glance”. However, it will “come into its own” as users get used to the format, he said.

“I find it an improvement [on] the old version,” he added.

However, community pharmacist Michael Franks said using the new version was the first time that he had “failed to find basic information” in the BNF.

Last week, the BNF team defended reported errors in the updated text.

What do you make of the new BNF?

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