‘When should I worry?’
Please use the link below to access a booklet developed by researchers at PRIME Centre Wales, Division of Population Medicine, Cardiff University which provides information for parents about the management of respiratory tract infections (coughs, colds, sore throats, and ear aches) in children:
Back in Control.
The BSUH Trust Back in Control programme (BIC) provides education, support and instruction to patients with long term back/neck pain. It is a six session course at the Princess Royal Hospital, on Thursday mornings, 10 am to noon, which provides patients with tips and skills to better manage their back or neck pain. Up until now it has been necessary for patients to be referred to the course by their GP, physiotherapist or other health professional. The Princess Royal are now looking to patients being able to self refer, thus speeding up the process, and avoiding taking up GP practice time.
Please visit www.sussexmskpartnershipcentral.co.uk/Pain Management/Back in Control (BiC) leaflet or speak to your local physiotherapy service at the Princess Royal 01444 448664 for more information on course times and locations.
Local Information
The Sussex Mental Healthline is telephone service providing support and information to anyone experiencing mental health problems including stress, anxiety and depression. The service is also available to carers and healthcare professionals. The Sussex Mental Healthline operates a no appointment system
Available Monday to Friday 5pm – 9am, and 24 hours at weekends and bank holidays.
The number to call is 0300 5000 101
http://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/
Where do I go for clinical or disease information?
Dr Clare Jones, GP partner of Newtons Practice recommends that you try www.qintervention.org .It enables you to work out your risk of diabetes, heart disease, or stroke over the next 10 years and shows you how that risk could change with interventions such as stopping smoking, losing weight, lowering your blood pressure or taking cholesterol lowering medication. It also shows unintended effects of statins. She will often use this tool during a consultation with a patient.
Best Treatments
Information is researched from the British Medical Journal and displayed in an easy to understand format.
Patient UK
Designed by GPs and EMIS and is a useful source of Patient information Leaflets amongst other things.
Net Doctor
Attempts to break the language barrier between Doctors and patients regarding disease and illnesses.
QRisk
QRISK is a new calculator which works out your risk of getting heart disease. It has been developed by doctors and academics working in the UK National Health Service
Information on Healthier Living
BBC – Healthy Living
Simple, accurate advice from the BBC. Helps you to establish the dos & don’ts of living healthily.
Male Health
Fast, free independent information from the Men”s Health Forum.
Women’s Health Concern
Women”s Health Concern is a charitable organisation which aims to help educate and support women with their healthcare by providing unbiased, accurate information.
NHS Sites
NHS Constitution
The NHS Constitution was published on 21 January 2009. It was one of a number of recommendations in Lord Darzi’s report ‘High Quality Care for All’ which was published on the 60th anniversary of the NHS and set out a ten-year plan to provide the highest quality of care and service for patients in England
NHS Choices
Aiming to personalise healthcare and provide information that will ‘allow patients to make meaningful choices about when and where to receive their treatment.’
Charity Websites
Cancerhelp
Free information service provided by Cancer Research UK about cancer and cancer care for people with cancer and their families. Information is formatted in such a way that makes understanding the website an easy process
Europe’s leading cancer information charity, with over 4,500 pages of up-to-date cancer information, practical advice and support for cancer patients, their families and carers.
Diabetes UK
largest charity in the UK devoted to the care and treatment of people with diabetes in order to improve the quality of life for people with the condition
Asthma UK
This website has been revamped to meet the needs of the thousands of people with asthma who visit the site each day, either to find important information about asthma and how to control it
Comprehensive information for people with all forms of dementia.
Tips on evaluating the reliability of online medical information
- Use sites from reputable organisations you have heard of.
- Double check the information by looking for other sources.
- Check there are contact details for any organisation or people responsible for the information not just an email address.
- Look at the advertising – does it seem to unduly influence the site content?
- All articles should quote references that you can look up.
- Watch out for claims about the superiority of any particular treatment over another
- Is this information supplied with a date to make sure it has not been superseded by other research.
- Check the sites confidentiality policy.
- Beware of sites claiming to be the definitive source.
- Beware of sites that criticise others.