This site from Alcohol Concern
contains information for the public about drinking, facts on the
effects drinking has on health and tips for cutting down on alcohol
intake. It also features an interactive test, which helps people
decide whether they need to change their drinking habits, and
recommends what kind of help they might need. The recent Public Health
White Paper emphasised the prevention of ill health and the importance
of early intervention - in line with this “How’s Your Drink” intends
to play an important role in meeting public health targets.
This new site aims to provide
access to all of Cancer Research UK’s information resources, including
health living/lifestyle information, the public and policy agenda,
information for young people on cancer, and the charity’s research.
The intention is for the site to bridge the gap between the
professional information on the Science & Research site (http://science.cancerresearchuk.org/)
and the patient-focused information on CancerHelp UK (http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/).
The Care Services Improvement
Partnership (CSIP) was launched on 1 April 2005. Working at national,
regional and local levels, CSIP has been set up to support improvement
and development, spanning services across health (including prison
health), local government and social care.
Centre for Ethnicity and Health, University of Central Lancashire
The Centre for Ethnicity and
Health, University of Central Lancashire has launched a web site which
has information on the centre’s research, teaching and learning. Many
of the reports published by the centre can be downloaded from this
site.
“Food in Schools” is a joint
Department of Health and Department for Education and Skills programme
that aims to help schools implement a whole school approach to food
education and healthy eating. The web site provides guidance and
resources for teachers, governors, parents, caterers and health
professionals.
The Health and Social Care
Information Centre works to co-ordinate and streamline the collection
and sharing of data about health and adult social care. The Health and
Social Care Information Centre is a special health authority that
became a statutory body on 1 April 2005.
HES is the national statistical
data warehouse for England on the care provided by NHS hospitals and
for NHS hospital patients treated elsewhere. HES is the data source
for a wide range of healthcare analysis for the NHS, Government and
many other organisations and individuals. At the beginning of April,
HES left the Department of Health to join the Health and Social Care
Information Centre (HSCIC).
The Cancer Specialist Library is
being developed to support health professionals in finding the cancer
information they need in order to keep up-to-date. A special feature
of the site is ‘What’s New in Oncology’ - a collection of critically
appraised summaries from the latest research published in leading
oncology journals.
The ENT and Audiology Specialist
Library aims to provide healthcare professionals with access to the
best available evidence in ENT, audiology and thyroid disorders.
Genepool is a specialist library
for clinical genetics. It aims to provide a collection of clinical
information on genetic conditions, aimed primarily at healthcare
professionals who are not genetics specialists.
The Mental Health Specialist
Library aims to meet the information needs of health care
professionals who work in the field of mental health. The site
contains the best available evidence to support people who are making
mental health care related decisions, including NICE guidelines,
technology appraisals, Cochrane systematic reviews, and a range of
best practice articles.
The Skin Conditions Specialist
Library contains quality, evidence-based information on skin
conditions and their treatment. It aims to bring together a wide
range of resources and information including national guidelines,
PRODIGY guidance and Cochrane systematic reviews.
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency “Yellow Card
Scheme”
The “Yellow Card Scheme”, run by
the MHRA, is used to collect anonymous information from health
professionals and patients on suspected adverse drug reactions.
Visitors to the scheme’s web site can download collected information
on medicines and/or report suspected adverse drug reactions.
National Patient Safety Agency “Clean Your Hands” Campaign
The National Patient Safety Agency
(NPSA) has created a micro-site for the “Clean Your Hands” campaign.
The site has been designed to introduce NHS staff to the campaign and
help to explain why hand hygiene has been targeted as a key patient
safety issue. The site contains all the background to the campaign and
supporting documents such as the evaluation report from the campaign
pilot.
There is now a Patient Group
Directions web site which is part of the National electronic Library
for Medicines (NeLM). The site is being developed to support all
healthcare professionals who provide care under PGDs, and includes
examples of good practice. Please note that this site supersedes the
“Group Protocols” web site.
Training in Infection provides
links to key resources for trainees specialising in infection. These
resources include journals, textbooks and information on societies,
conferences and grants. Training in Infection has been developed by
the City eHealth Research Centre and aims to be an online version of
the Training in Infection manual originally developed by Imperial
College.
The Department of Health web site
now hosts a database of NHS Factsheets.
NHS Factsheets are internal Department of Health
briefing sheets on individual Strategic Health Authorities and NHS
Trusts. They contain organisational information, contact details and
selected published statistical information.
From 1 April 2005, the Integrated
Care Network (ICN) has formed part of the Care Services Improvement
Partnership (CSIP). In line with this, the ICN web site has been
revamped to be more interactive, making it easier to access
information on integration, share practice, contribute to discussion
forums and register for the network’s national and regional events.
The National Council for
Palliative Care are an independent body providing up-to-date
information on all areas of palliative care. The Council have
recently redesigned their web site.
The NHS Direct web site has
launched a range of new features and updates including six interactive
tools covering pregnancy, eat 5-a-day, safe drinking, body mass index,
stopping smoking, and exercise and calories.
The NHS Modernisation Agency has
been migrating its web content to a new web portal, known as 'WISE'
(Web Information Sharing Environment). There is a new homepage, and a
directory of “Improvement Themes” is replacing individual
Modernisation Agency web sites.
NHS Networks is a new initiative
that aims to promote good practice in the NHS by connecting
clinicians, mangers, users of health services etc., encouraging the
sharing of experiences and success.
National
Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
The Health
Development Agency joined with the National Institute for Clinical
Excellence on 1 April 2005 to become the new National Institute for
Health and Clinical Excellence (still to be known as NICE).
The new National Institute for Health and
Clinical Excellence has taken on the functions of the Health
Development Agency to create a single organisation responsible for
providing national guidance on the promotion of good health and the
prevention and treatment of ill health.
Partnerships UK
have launched a database of Public Private Partnerships and Private
Finance Intititave projects. The freely available database has
statistical, operational and financial data on over 600 projects. The
database contains public information and aims to contribute to a
better understanding of the market and assist the public sector in
compiling data and reports on an aggregated basis.
Primary Care
Contracting are now working seperately from NatPaCT and therefore have
revamped their web site. The new site includes sections on dentistry,
pharmacy and optometry.
