CCNet supports consumers by
enabling communication, training and guidance in providing a consumer
perspective to Cochrane systematic reviews and other activities within
the Cochrane Collaboration. The site includes full details of how to
become a member of this collaborative network, how members can
contribute, and an archive of newsletters and other resources.
This is the Food Standards
Agency's consumer advice and information site and aims to help people
with making informed food choices, choosing a healthy diet and
reducing diet related illness. There are some useful basic sections
on nutrition essentials and selected health issues.
Produced by a collaborative effort
and sponsored by the Department of Health, the Health Poverty Index is
a visual way of looking at Health Inequalities. The HPI tool allows
groups, differentiated by geography, social or economic position and
cultural identity, to be contrasted in terms of their 'health
poverty’. A group's 'health poverty' is a combination of both its
present state of health and its future health potential or lack of it.
The HPI tool is in the third phase of development and would welcome
feedback on content from potential users.
Health Promis –
Electronic archive of publications
This resource includes
publications from the Health Education Authority, Health Development
Agency, Health Education Council and the Teenage Pregnancy and
Parenthood collection.
The Improvement Network website
was developed by the Audit Commission, CIPFA, The Employers’
Organisation and IDeA and aims to help people to improve local public
services. Chiefly aimed at senior and middle managers in councils in
England, it is also useful for anyone with an interest in improving
local services. The website is built around five key ‘themes’ and
takes you through a step-by-step process of identifying what you need
to do to improve. The five themes are: Leadership and governance;
Resources and performance management; Customer focus and community
engagement;
Organisation, and People and
Partnerships.
Medicines.org.uk is a new information source for members of the UK
public looking for medicines information that is reliable and
understandable. The information provided has been approved by 142
pharmaceutical manufacturers and the MHRA. The main site on
medicines.org.uk is the electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC)
which contains Summaries of Product Characteristics and Patient
Information Leaflets for most medicines available in the UK. Other
resources include: a dictionary of medicines and devices, regulatory
news and medicine guides – a developing service that currently covers
influenza, epilepsy and cholesterol.
The Mouth Cancer Foundation was
established in June 2004 to provide support for mouth, throat and
other head and neck cancer patients. The MCF website aims to help
patients, carers and health professionals find free information on
mouth cancers easily. It provides direct links to the relevant
sections of existing cancer sites and includes patient experiences as
well as an online support
group.
The National Library for Health (NLH)
website went live during Health Libraries Week in November 2004. The
NLH itself is still in development. The pilot Primary Care Question
and Answering Service, created to help members of the primary care
teams of England get answers to their clinical questions, is now live.
In the
light of the closure of the NHS Modernisation Agency on 31st March
2005, NatPaCT has agreed transition arrangements for its work with
stakeholders in PCTs, SHAs and the Department of Health. The website
and networks will continue and will
continue to offer all the existing areas, discussion forums and
articles, toolkits, publications, and competencies, plus more
connections with the National Primary Care
Networks, and more opportunities for local improvement
initiatives and networks to share their experiences. Further details
are available here.
http://www.natpact.nhs.uk/cms/187.php
An online resource from the NHS
Alliance and NatPaCT of examples of how good working relationships
between PCTs and their clinicians are transforming health services for
patients and the public. The resource can be browsed, searched and
updated on the NatPaCT website and it currently holds over 100
voluntarily submitted records in the areas of: service provision;
improving local health and commissioning.
NHS
Employers works for those in the NHS in England who are responsible
for employing staff. It is part of the NHS Confederation but with its
own director, policy board and assembly. The website give details of
its work programme, also relevant information on employment practice,
workforce and pay and conditions. It produces the NHS Workforce
Bulletin which replaces the HR Directors’ Bulletin, previously
produced by the Department of Health.
Policypointers.org
– Policy Research from leading think tanks worldwide
Policypointers was created to enable those
involved in government, academia and the media to gain rapid access to
the research and conclusions of think tanks around the world. It is a
collection of downloadable research material, arranged in categories
(including health) and with an international focus. Currently there
is not much material available from the UK, but this is a new resource
and hopefully this will expand. An email alert is available.
Stroke Association –
Professionals - information and resources
A comprehensive web facility for
healthcare professionals has been launched by The Stroke Association.
This includes resource packs, guidelines and leaflets.
The UKCRC was created in 2004 and
brings together the major stakeholders that influence clinical
research in the UK, particularly in the NHS. The Collaboration
includes representatives from: the main funding bodies for clinical
research in the UK; academic medicine; the NHS; regulatory bodies;
representatives from industry and patients. The focus of UKCRC
activities will be in five major workstreams: building up the
infrastructure in the NHS; building up incentives for research in the
NHS; Building up the research workforce; Streamlining the regulatory
and governance processes and co-ordinating clinical research funding.
The website currently gives basic information as to the way the UKCRC
is set up, its partners, workstreams and background.
A new
service to make the Department of Health website more accessible has
been launched. When plugged-in with Browsealoud the DH website will
read web pages aloud, highlighting text as it goes, thereby making it
more accessible for those with learning difficulties, dyslexia, mild
visual impairment and those for whom English is not their first
language.
From 25 October, the Department are
introducing online browseable versions of key DH publications and
bulletins; this offers the options of navigating through and reading
the document online or printing the downloadable version to read
later. The publications and bulletins that are available now through
www.publications.doh.gov.uk/xxxx web addresses will be moved onto the
main DH website and, as each one is moved across, the links in the
publications section will be updated to point at the new pages. When
all the documents have been moved over, redirects will be set up from
the old pages to the new pages. Any comments on the new format
documents to
web-editorial@doh.gsi.gov.uk.
