4.2 Using gateways - searchable catalogues of health Internet sites

Health information gateways provide free access to a catalogue of health and medical Internet sites. You can look for information under subject sections, or search the gateway using keywords.

• Advise health consumers to use gateways first, rather than to go straight to a search engine.



• Provide links to gateways on your site.

There are a number of gateways that would be useful. Here are some examples.

• NHS Direct Online (http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk) [Opens in new browser window]
  NHS Direct Online is produced by the NHS. It provides high quality health information and advice. You can also make an online enquiry, or telephone a 24 hour nurse advice and information helpline.
  
  
• Contact a Family (http://www.cafamily.org.uk) [Opens in new browser window]
  Contact a Family produces a directory of conditions affecting adults and children. The directory gives a medical description of the condition, followed by details of related support groups. There is also a helpline service. Contact a Family is a UK charity which helps families who care for children with any disability or special need. They are a main source of information about rare disorders and are able to assist affected adults as well as children.
  
  
• Patient UK (http://www.patient.co.uk) [Opens in new browser window]
  Patient UK is a directory to health Web sites in the UK. It contains information about conditions, support groups, books and journals, and locations of GP practices and hospitals. Patient information leaflets are also available. It is a free site edited by two GPs.
  
  
• Intute: Health and Life Sciences: Medicine (http://www.intute.ac.uk/healthandlifesciences/medicine/) [Opens in new browser window]
  This is "a free online service providing you with access to the very best web resources for education and research, evaluated and selected by a network of subject specialists. This service was formerly known as OMNI."
  
  
• National electronic Library for Health - NeLH (http://www.nelh.nhs.uk) [Opens in new browser window]
  NeLH is produced by the NHS. It contains good quality information that provides the evidence for health care. Though aimed at the health professional, most of the site is freely available to the public too.
  
  
• MEDLINEplus (http://medlineplus.gov) [Opens in new browser window]
  MEDLINEplus is produced by the US government. It provides information on conditions, a medical encyclopaedia and medical dictionaries. For every condition covered, you can click on a link to MEDLINE for a pre-set search of recent research articles. MEDLINE is the top database to the international medical research literature.
  

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© Copyright for this site is held by Contact a Family and the Information Society Research and Consultancy Group, School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences, Northumbria University. Site published February 2003. Last updated October 2006. Review date October 2007.