The Veterinary Poisons Information Service (VPIS) was officially launched in April 1992 by the London and Leeds branches of the National Poisons Information Service. It provides an information source, with 24 hour availability, to veterinarians and animal welfare organisations to aid their management of cases of acute poisoning in animals. However, given the limited clinical veterinary toxicology information currently available the service has started to collect and collate case-data for the majority of cases referred in an attempt to build a data base of clinical veterinary toxicology.

Unlimited access to both branches of the VPIS is permitted to any veterinary practice or other authorised user on payment of an annual subscription fee; the amount dependent on the number of veterinarians in the practice. Subscribers are issued with a membership number that needs to be quoted at the start of each enquiry.

The VPIS is staffed by trained information specialists and pharmacists with ready access to a large variety of information sources. These include veterinary toxicology textbooks, past case reports from the journals, results and findings of animal laboratory work performed during drug and product testing, human toxicology databases including some that contain animal data and also its own data base of past case records. Additionally the VPIS has access to a large library of data sheets provided, on a confidential basis, by manufacturers throughout the UK. These list the compositions, packaging details, physico-chemical characteristics and, in some cases, toxicological characteristics of many products allowing assessment of the toxic hazard by the VPIS staff. The service has a large number of ‘expert’ contacts to whomreferral maybe made. The laboratory services of the Medical Toxicology Unit are available to VPIS subscribers also.

Medical Toxicology Unit

Avonley Road

London

SE14 5ER

Tel: 020 7635 9195

Fax: 020 7771 5309

email: vpis@gstt.nhs.uk

website: www.medtox.org/info/vpis.asp

 

The General Infirmary

Great George Street

Leeds

LS1 3EX

Tel: 0113 245 0530

Fax: 0113 244 5849