General Health Information Portals and Gateways

 National

BBC Health News - Health News

Citizens Advice Bureaux - advice on every subject in 700 bureaux in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 70 bureaux in Scotland

Cochrane Collaboration Consumer Group - international not-for-profit research organisation that aims to help people make informed decisions about health care

Department of Health- Government site for Health and social care

Directgov - UK Government official information on all matters including health.
DISCERN - questionnaire which provides users with a valid and reliable way of assessing the quality of written information on treatment choices for a health problem
healthtalkonline - Formerly DIPEx - is a database of individual patient experiences 
NHS Website-
NHS Evidence - formerly National library for Health and National Electronic Library for Health - working with NHS libraries to develop a digital library for NHS staff, patients and the public
NICE - is responsible for providing national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health.
Patient UK - links to information about health issues primarily from UK sources

Scottish Health on the Web - sponsored by the Management Executive of the NHS in Scotland, and provides cost effective, readily available health service information to both clinicians and the public
Specialistinfo.com- You can search for medical specialists by region or by specialty or interests here. Registration is required but some areas are free for non-commercial users.  Info
Department of Education- Department of Health and the Department for Education and Employment working together to ensure that young people and their teachers are able to access relevant and appropriate health information, part of the National Grid for Learning

          International 

Diseases Explained - from Lexi-Comp Inc (US)

Medical Encyclopaedia - from National library of Medicine (US)
Merck Manual of Medical Information--Home Edition -  Merck & Co Inc (US)
MEDLINEplus - health information for consumers, National Library of Medicine (US)
Oncolex  -(non UK site developed by The Institute for Medical Informatics at Oslo University Hospital)

Please let us know if links are not working or to add any other local support group information