For information,

David

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From: p=NHS NATIONAL
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Sent: 31 May 2000 15:30
To: p=NHS NATIONAL
INT;a=NHS;c=GB;dda:RFC-822=lis-medical(a)mailbase.ac.uk;; p=NHS NATIONAL
INT;a=NHS;c=GB;dda:RFC-822=lis-nelh(a)mailbase.ac.uk;
Subject: FW: Centre for Health Information Quality - Service up-date


 
 
Dear Colleagues

CENTRE FOR HEALTH INFORMATION QUALITY - SERVICE UP-DATE

The Centre for Health Information Quality (C-H-i-Q) is based at The Help for
Health Trust in Winchester, and works with information producers and
providers to raise standards in consumer health information. The Centre has
recently undergone major changes, developing new services, which now
include:

Production of evidence-based patient information

The Centre is developing its main work programme for the National Institute
for Clinical Excellence, identifying quality patient information to
complement the NICE Clinical Guidelines, as well as collaborating with
information producers to develop fresh resources where necessary. The Centre
is soon to appoint its Consumer Involvement Co-ordinator who will play a
crucial role in this work.

Appraisal of evidence-based information

C-H-i-Q appraises consumer health information for the highly acclaimed
Conditions and Treatments database on NHSDirect Online. This section of the
site receives 50-60,000 visitors per day. Our editors use primarily the
DISCERN tool (www.discern.org.uk) as a validated appraisal tool. We are also
working closely with Digital TV companies exploring appraisal issues for
multi-media consumer health resources.

Patient information systems development

The Centre is collaborating with Macmillan Cancer Relief on the development
of a Cancer Information Database for patients. Fiona Stobie is the Project
Manager leading this work. This makes up a significant component of the
patient information strand of the NHS Information Authority's forthcoming
Cancer Information Strategy, which the Centre has been asked to take
forward.

Networking

The Centre continues to develop its network with producers and providers of
consumer health information, locally, regionally, nationally and
internationally. Our contacts database has details of more than 3000
information services and specialists.

Publications

Details of all the Centre's publications can be found on our web-site
(www.hfht.org/chiq). While printed versions of our Newsletters and Topic
Bulletins will no longer be produced, the site is kept up-to-date with
details of service developments. The Centre will soon be publishing its
'Guidelines for Producing Written Patient Information on Conditions and
Treatments'.

Consultancy

C-H-i-Q has been involved in the development of many consumer health
resources, such as the Macmillan Directory of Information Materials for
People with Cancer, and the HDA's QUICK web-site for children
(www.quick.org.uk). Currently, we are working with the Department of Health
to develop a national strategy for supportive care.

Other services

Some of these service developments have required the Centre to put on hold
various other initiatives such as database searching for enquirers (PiPER
and PiPs). These services will be resumed as soon as possible, and in the
meantime we apologise for any inconvenience caused. Training services are a
high priority for development, expecting to evolve significantly over coming
months.

For more information about C-H-i-Q services, please do not hesitate to
contact the Centre Administrator, Jane Shaddock ([log in to unmask]).

Many thanks for your interest!

Tom 

====================================

Tom Hain

Manager

Centre for Health Information Quality (C-H-i-Q)

Highcroft

Romsey Road

Winchester

SO22 5DH

Tel 01962 872202

Fax 01962 831902

E-mail [log in to unmask]

www.hfht.org/chiq