I am aware that the Internet is now providing public access to a wide range of health information, and is beginning to facilitate access to information for groups with special needs like carers and people with disabilities. The Internet, and related technologies, are also facilitating a number of developments in medical communication and telemedicine. Research has shown that patients may be better informed than previously, and keener to participate in decisions about their own care but, equally, vulnerable to information on the Internet which is inaccurate or misleading. This has emphasised the desirability of sign-posting relevant information sources and offering some degree of reassurance about their reliability, while the difficulties in doing so, given the range and quantity of information involved, are palpable.
I am aware of the work being done in the United Kingdom by the Centre for Health Information Quality, to which the Deputy makes reference, on improving the quality of health information produced for the public, and in developing an accreditation process for health information which is reliable and evidence-based. I understand that the centre will also be involved with implementing the "National Gateway" to health information on the Internet and National Electronic Library for Health proposed in the United Kingdom strategy document "Information for health". These developments are intended to assist the public and health professionals in locating relevant health information resources, and provide some level of accreditation of their content.
I have recently convened a Working Group on Health Services Public Information which is examining existing inadequacies in the provision of health information to the general public and specific groups by health agencies, and which will be making recommendations aimed at effecting improvements in information quality and dissemination. The group will be examining the recommendations of the Consumer Health Information Research Project, which was funded by my Department from national lottery funds, and which reported in May 1998, the work of the centre for Health Information Quality, and the proposals on establishing a National Electronic Library for Health and "National Gateway" to health resources on the Internet. I will also be asking the working group to assess in detail the feasibility of a national health "gateway" website, which would link to recognised and reliable sources of information. The working group is due to report in mid-1999.
