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The best thing about the internet is that it can find a needle in a haystack; the downside is that sometimes you have to look through the entire haystack first! At the last estimate there were over a billion web pages, but unfortunately, there is no overall indexing system. Several companies have developed portals (indexes) to enable users to locate information more easily. Searching using a portal is relatively straightforward but the weakness is that it contains only a subset of all the information on the internet. Some portals specialise in medical and health information for health professionals and others specialise in health information for everyone, but it is always useful to know what is out there!
Yahoo: General portal divided into different categories such as health, news and media, recreation and sport and so on, also has a powerful search engine (Google).
www.yahoo.co.uk
Achoo: Portal specialising in US healthcare sites, mostly for healthcare professionals. www.achoo.com/
Net Doctor: Portal for information on health (for the public). www.netdoctor.co.uk
Health in Focus: Good portal for healthcare information (for the public) www.healthinfocus.co.uk
Patient UK: Portal for healthcare information (for the public) www.patient.co.uk
SEARCH ENGINES
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If searching using a portal is unsuccessful, the next step is to conduct a more advanced search engine which uses keywords to find information. Keyword searches are usually thorough but it is sometimes difficult to think of the correct keyword and
American spellings tend to predominate (for example, edema rather than oedema). in addition, some search engines automatically use the Boolean and operator (in other words, they will retrieve documents which contain all the keywords you have entered). Even the most powerful search engines only index about 15 per cent of the internet, so you may need to use more than one to find what you are looking for.
Hotbot: One of the best, particularly for finding UK sites. Also a good portal. www.hotbot.lycos.com/
Google: Good general search engine (used by Yahoo). www.google.com www.google.co.uk
Alta Vista: Good general search engine which claims to have the largest coverage of the web. Also a good general portal. www.altavista.co.uk
Ask jeeves: A good general search engine that allows you to ask questions in plain English, without the need to use keywords. www.ask.co.uk
INFORMATION ON MEDICINES
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Most of the commonly used reference books in pharmacy are now available on the web and have the advantage of being more accurate and up-to-date than the printed
versions. Some such as Martindale and e-MIMS require a subscription but others are free. Check out the following:
Data sheet compendium: Registration necessary for health professionals; contains more data sheets than the printed version. www.emc.vhn.net
BNF: www.bnf.org
INFORMATION on HEALTH and ILLNESS
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The internet contains a great deal of information about health, illness and disease, but there are no controls on who writes this information. Many sites are compiled by people who suffer from a particular disease and the information they contain is based purely on their experiences, not on evidence or medical opinion. So how can you ensure the information you are looking at is likely to be sound? The best way is to use a good quality site, compiled by recognised experts, such as those listed below.
Merck Manual: Useful for general information on a wide variety of illnesses. There is a version available for health professionals and a version for lay people. www.merck.com/pubs
Medline: A number of websites offer free access to a slightly restricted version of the database Medline. This is compiled by the US National Library of Medicines and nearly 4000 medical journals from 70 countries are abstracted. However, it can be tricky to use as not all articles are written in English and abstracts do not tell you whether the study has used sound methodology. Medscape provides free access to
medline for health professionals (registration required). www.medscape.com/
Cochrane Collaboration: The Cochrane Collaboration is a compilation of abstracts of systematic reviews and clinical trials. Articles that have been published in other journals are entered onto the database only if they comply with strict methodological
criteria. The library is divided into a number of databases, including the Cochrane
Database of Systemic Reviews and the Database of Abstracts of reviews of Effectiveness. www.hiru.mcmaster.ca/cochrane/default.htm
JOURNALS
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It is also possible to browse and search a variety of medical and pharmaceutical journals on the internet and access to many of these is free of charge.
Pharmaceutical Journal: provides free access to the current issue of the Pharmaceutical Journal and an archive search facility can be tricky to use as it automatically uses the Boolean 'or' operator and you cannot browse for a particular issue of the journal. www.pharmj.com
British medical Journal: The full text of articles from the BMJ is available free on the internet. This site also has an excellent browse and search facility and includes archives of the journal back to 1994. The BMJ is particularly useful for keeping up with what is happening in primary care and the new NHS. www.bmj.com
The Lancet: Provides access to selected full-text articles from The Lancet and lists the titles of other articles. Registration is required, but access is free. www.thelancet.com
Bandolier: This site provides free access to a monthly journal on evidence-based healthcare produced for the NHS R&D Directorate. www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/
Effective Health Care Bulletin: Effective Health Care is a bi-monthly bulletin for decision makers in the NHS which examines the effectiveness of a variety of health care interventions including medicines. The bulletins are based on systemic reviews and research on the clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and acceptability of health service interventions. Recent bulletins have covered drug treatments for schizophrenia and the management of foot ulcers in diabetes. www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/ehcb/htm
Chemist and Druggist: The site is known as the 'dotpharmacy' site and includes news and features from the Chemist & Druggist magazine and links to other pharmacy-related pages. www.dotpharmacy.co.uk
HEALTH NEWS
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Lots of sites provide up-to-the-minute news on health-related topics such as new drugs, drug withdrawals, research findings and so on. The following sites are worth checking regularly, but remember that news stories will have been given a journalistic spin and where possible, you should refer back to the original article.
BBC: www.news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/default.htm
Health News: A very busy site, with general health news and headlines from medical journals; registration required for health professionals. www.health-news.co.uk
GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS
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In the UK, the government has adopted a policy of open government such that all but the most confidential government documents are available for members of the public to see.
Department of Health: The site includes daily press releases, White Papers and a list of the ministers responsible for health. There is also a searchable database containing contact details for PCOs/PCTs (including HAZs), health authorities and so on. www.doh.gov.uk
Scotland www.scotland.gov.uk
Wales www.wales.gov.uk
Northern Ireland www.dhssni.gov.uk
NHS Direct: Information for the public on self-care and the management of minor ailmants. www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
Medicines Control Agency: Information on medicines safety such as recent drug withdrawals, consultations on reclassification of medicines (MLXs), back issues of 'Current Problems', links to the Committe on Safety of Medicines site and the facility to download Yellow Cards. www.open.gov.uk/mca/mcahome.htm
National Institute for Clinical Excellence: This site gives details of drugs and treatments currently being assessed by NICE and summaries of findings from previous technology reviews. www.nice.org.uk
National Prescribing Centre: This site provides information on NPC's activities and access to its publications including MeReC Bulletins. www.npc.co.uk
SITES for PCO/PCT PHARMACISTS
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The following sites may be useful for pharmacists working for PCOs/PCTs at strategic level. www.pct.org
NHS Primary Care Group Alliance: www.nhsalliance.org
National Primary Care Research and Development Centre: www.npcrdc.man.ac.uk
Primary Care Pharmacists' Association: www.pcpa.org.uk
MISCELLANEOUS
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Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education: Book courses online. www.cppe.man.ac.uk
Private Rx: Chat to colleagues and exchange views on current pharmacy issues. www.private-rx.net
Ask Your Pharmacist: Information for the public and a directory of NPA member pharmacies. www.askyourpharmacist.co.uk
REMEMBER...."Seek out and you shall find!"
All of the above ranges are available through searches, investigations and projects using established and new market experts through dedicated teams of researchers, experts and our global partners.
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