Useful addresses
We have included the following organisations because, on preliminary investigation, they may be of use to the reader. However, we do not have first-hand experience of each organisation and so cannot guarantee the organisation’s integrity. The reader must therefore exercise his or her own discretion and judgement when making further enquiries.
Benefits Enquiry Line
Tel: 0800 882200
Minicom: 0800 243355
Website: www.dwp.gov.uk
N. Ireland: 0800 220674
Government agency giving information and advice on sickness and disability benefits for people with disabilities and their carers.
British Thyroid Foundation
PO Box 97, Clifford Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 6XD
Tel: 01423 709707 or 01423 709448
Website: www.btf-thyroid.org
Provides support and information to sufferers of thyroid disorders, promotes a greater awareness of these disorders among the general public and medical profession, helps set up regional support groups and raises funds for research.
Clinical Knowledge Summaries
Sowerby Centre for Health Informatics at Newcastle (SCHIN Ltd), Bede House, All Saints Business Centre Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 2ES
Tel: 0191 243 6100
Website: www.cks.library.nhs.uk
A website mainly for GPs giving information for patients listed by disease plus named self-help organisations.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)
MidCity Place, 71 High Holborn London WC1V 6NA
Tel: 0845 003 7780
Website: www.nice.org.uk
Provides national guidance on the promotion of good health and treatment of ill-health. Patient information leaflets are available for each piece of guidance issued.
NHS Direct
Tel: 0845 4647 (24 hours, 365 days a year)
Website: www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
Offers confidential health-care advice, information and referral service. A good first port of call for any health advice.
NHS Smoking Helpline
Freephone: 0800 022 4332 (7am–11pm, 365 days a year)
Website: www.gosmokefree.nhs.uk
Pregnancy smoking helpline: 0800 169 9169 (12 noon–9pm, 365 days a year)
Have advice, help and encouragement on giving up smoking. Specialist advisers available to offer ongoing support to those who genuinely are trying to give up smoking. Can refer to local branches.
Patients’ Association
PO Box 935 Harrow, Middlesex HA1 3YJ
Tel: 020 8423 9111
Helpline: 0845 608 4455
Website: www.patients-association.com
Provides advice on patients’ rights, leaflets and a directory of self-help groups.
Quit (Smoking Quitlines)
211 Old Street, London EC1V 9NR
Helpline: 0800 002200 (9am–9pm, 365 days a year)
Tel: 020 7251 1551
Website: www.quit.org.uk
Scotland: 0800 848484
Wales: 0800 169 0169 (NHS)
Offers individual advice on giving up smoking in English and Asian languages. Talks to schools on smoking and pregnancy and can refer to local support groups. Runs training courses for professionals.
Thyroid Eye Disease Charitable Trust (TED)
PO Box 2954, Calne, Wiltshire SN11 8WR
Tel: 0844 800 8133
Website: www.tedct.co.uk
Offers information, care and support to those affected by thyroid eye disease via UK-wide support groups and telephone helplines. Raises awareness of the condition among the medical profession and general public, and fund raises for research.
Useful websites
BBC
A helpful website: easy to navigate and offers lots of useful advice and information. Also contains links to other related topics.
Patient UK
Patient care website.
The internet as a source of further information
After reading this book, you may feel that you would like further information on the subject. The internet is of course an excellent place to look and there are many websites with useful information about medical disorders, related charities and support groups.
It should always be remembered, however, that the internet is unregulated and anyone is free to set up a website and add information to it. Many websites offer impartial advice and information that has been compiled and checked by qualified medical professionals. Some, on the other hand, are run by commercial organisations with the purpose of promoting their own products. Others still are run by pressure groups, some of which will provide carefully assessed and accurate information whereas others may be suggesting medications or treatments that are not supported by the medical and scientific community.
Unless you know the address of the website you want to visit – for example, www.familydoctor.co.uk – you may find the following guidelines useful when searching the internet for information.
Search engines and other searchable sites
Google (www.google.co.uk) is the most popular search engine used in the UK, followed by Yahoo! (http://uk.yahoo.com) and MSN (www.msn.co.uk). Also popular are the search engines provided by Internet Service Providers such as Tiscali and other sites such as the BBC site (www.bbc.co.uk).
In addition to the search engines that index the whole web, there are also medical sites with search facilities, which act almost like mini-search engines, but cover only medical topics or even a particular area of medicine. Again, it is wise to look at who is responsible for compiling the information offered to ensure that it is impartial and medically accurate. The NHS Direct site (www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk) is an example of a searchable medical site.
Links to many British medical charities can be found at the Association of Medical Research Charities’ website (www.amrc.org.uk) and at Charity Choice (www.charitychoice.co.uk).
