NHS launches satellite and digital TV service
The digital TV home page for NHS Direct |
NHS Direct has launched an interactive digital satellite television service. Later in the year, the new service will also become available to cable and Freeview digital viewers.
NHS Direct Interactive offers about 2,500 pages of health information,
dietary and fitness advice and video clips, and will cost £15m
over the coming three years.
This is one of a number of health information developments announced
by the Department of Health at the end of last year. Another is the development
of a national health accreditation scheme to affirm the quality and suitability
of health information.
There will also be an internet search engine for websites provided by
the NHS and approved NHS information partners.
Harry Cayton, NHS director for patients and the public, said: “Most
people get most of their information about health from sources other
than the NHS.
“We have to form a partnership with the media, with patient organisations,
and we have to think about new media, such as the internet and television,
to make sure that everyone has access to the information that they need
to make choices about their health. … Much of the information that
is currently available is too difficult to read for most people.”
Foreign language information on the digital TV service is limited to
information about the availability of NHS Direct’s telephone interpretation
service. This is because digital television services can only handle
roman characters. Foreign language information has to be transmitted
as graphics, which consume too much bandwidth. |
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