NHS Direct, the National Health Service telephone helpline service, has expanded its activities to provide wider telephone coverage in England, an internet service and a health care guide that is to be sold in pharmacies. Next year, computer points are expected to be installed in pharmacies to provide access to the website for people who do not have computers at home.
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Mr Milburn examines the health care guide |
"Some people see informed patients as a threat to the NHS," Mr Milburn said. "I do not. People who are informed are better able to look after themselves and make more appropriate use of services."
For the NHS Executive, Mr Paul Jenkins, said that the NHS Direct and its health care guide and on-line service were intended to provide an integrated service. NHS Direct nurses could guide callers to the book or to the website for complementary information. People looking in the book or on the internet could be confident that an expert adviser on what they read was just a telephone call away.
Commenting on public access points for NHS Direct On-line, Mr Jenkins said: "Pharmacies will provide very good settings because they have high levels of throughput, convenient locations and the support of a pharmacist on hand."
Dr Ian Banks, the general medical practitioner author of the guide said: "What we are doing is revolutionary. We have produced a package to reduce GP workload and to enable people to take health care into their own hands."
The book includes 88 pages of flowcharts that guide people through a range of symptoms to decisions to call an ambulance, to call NHS Direct or to follow some self-care instructions. The self-care instructions often include advice to see a pharmacist to buy suitable medication.
The guide was compiled with advice from a 23-member editorial board, which included Professor Alison Blenkinsopp (department of pharmacy education and practice, Keele university), Miss Margaret Hewetson (director of drug information, Guy's and St Thomas's hospitals) and Mr John Stanley (secretary, Essex local pharmaceutical committee).
NHS Direct Online provides the content of the health care guide, plus information about the NHS, how to use its services, facts and advice on current health stories and pages on 200 diseases and their treatment. There are also weblinks to health information sites that NHS Direct considers to be trustworthy.
Within nine months it is expected that people will be able to search for NHS services, such as their nearest pharmacy or dental surgery.
"Our pharmacists must be one of the most under-used resources in the NHS. These highly trained people have not been given the credit they deserve for all they can do for doctors and patients," Dr Banks said. Mr Milburn indicated that he agreed.
NHS Direct can be found on the internet at www.healthcareguide.nhsdirect.nhs.uk