HealingOnline.co.uk, a new online internet service, was launched on March 7 with the aim of providing health care professionals with a database of information on complementary health. The site is to feature an adverse event monitoring system, "based on the ‘yellow card' scheme", to encourage reporting of side effects from complementary health products. The system will be developed in conjunction with the primary care department, University of Westminster. The site will also provide a nation-wide database of registered complementary practitioners and access to complementary health products.
Speaking at the launch, Dr Ian Banks (GP and chairman of the BMA's men's health forum) said: "Although this information is being built into medical training courses now, there are a huge number of doctors, nurses and pharmacists looking for reliable information that they feel safe in passing on to patients."
Professor Tony Moffat (chief scientist, Royal Pharmaceutical Society) told The Journal on March 8 that the Society expected pharmacists who gave advice on complementary health care to be well informed and as such it welcomed the site as a useful source of information. Commenting on the development of the side effect reporting system, Professor Moffat said the Society would prefer that reports were made centrally to either the Society or the Medicines Control Agency.
At present, HealingOnline.co.uk will only be accessible to the public via health care professionals, who will be given individual passwords. More information about HealingOnline is available from the website or by calling 01604 673868.