This Topic Review covers advice on obtaining information about poisoning and when to refer people to hospital. The target audience is healthcare professionals working within the NHS in England, and providing first contact or primary health care. Patient information from NHS Direct is intended to be printed and given to people with this condition or their carers. This review looks at what assessments need to be made, when patients should be admitted to hospital, where to seek further advice from (TOXBASE, NTIS, NPIS, UKMI), how to manage patients who do not need admission to hospital, and how to manage patients who refuse to go to hospital.