Mental Health Links

Links on this page are categorised as follows, although there is some overlap between sections and minor duplication:

1. Organisations for service users and carers:

1a. Organisations - UK charities and self-help, general
1b. Organisations - non-UK charities and self-help, general
1c. Organisations - UK charities and self-help, specific interest
1d. Organisations - non-UK charities and self-help, specific interest 2. Information for service users and carers: 2a. From professional sources
2b. From industry sources 3. Information for professionals 3a. Journals and medical information
3b. UK Professional and Governmental organisations
3c. International Professional and Governmental organisations
3d. Medical information
3e. Pharmacy sites
3f. Search engines and searchable databases
3g. Links sites
3h. Evidence-based medicine
3i. Publishers
3j. Pharmaceutical Industry 4. Miscellaneous

To help understand site URLs better, the following may be useful:

.ac = academic institution (UK)
.edu = educational (USA)
.nhs = NHS
.co = company or organisation not qualifying as a non-profit/charity
.org = non-profit-making organisation (although there are no checks as such about this)
.com = world-wide commercial organisation
In combination with the above, you may find also a country of origin e.g. .uk = UK, .ie = Eire, .de = Germany, .nl = Netherlands, .nz = New Zealand, .hk = Hong Kong, .au = Australia, .fr = France, .md = Moldova, .be = Belgium etc

"Acrobat reader": Some documents on some sites may need Adobe Acrobat reader to open them. This is a free programme that can easily and safely be downloaded onto your PC by visiting the Acrobat site and following the instructions. When you click on a file requiring Acrobat, your computer starts up Acrobat, then opens the document.

1. Information for service users and carers

1a. Organisations - UK charities and self-help, general

UK self-help, one of the best links pages for UK self-help and problem-based webpages, from Steve and Julie Garrill (12.04)

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk, free information about benefits and mental health e.g new incapacity benefit guide, mental health and benefits guide, user friendly, step-by-step guide for claimants, carers and support workers and is available as free download in .pdf format. It covers how the incapacity points system works, completing the incapacity for work questionnaire, attending a medical examination and appealing against a decision that you are capable of work. There is a huge amount on this site available free to help you and run by Steve Donnison and Holiday Whitehead (barrister), tel/fax: 01249 740 556.

www.addictionnetwork.co.uk, a new website for addictions from Nick Charles MBE (Feb 2005)
APRIL - Adverse Psychiatric Reactions Information Link website, a UK charity campaigning for improved knowledge and recognition of psychiatric reactions to drugs
Befrienders, the International Organisation that links members providing the same crisis support world wide. It has information in 8 languages and a directory of local services in over 40 countries. Non-UK based visitors to the site may find it useful, as may those who speak little English or who would prefer to use another language
Connects, the Mental Health and Learning Disabilities portal. It is a world-wide, interactive, personalized forum for the sharing of information by people whose lives are touched by mental health problems and/or learning disabilities (includes users, carers, friends, therapists, researchers etc). The site contains information about over 6000 organisations, websites, events and news events concerned with mental health or learning disabilities (including UKPPG) (9.02)
Elfrida Society, who produce leaflets for people with learning disabilities, as well as a whole lot more
Long term medical conditions alliance, an umbrella group for long-term conditions, many of which are mental health related
MadNOTBad, whose aim is to provide a space for those affected by mental ill health (i.e. users, family, friends, carers) to share their insights and creativity. Hopefully 'telling it like it is' will help people feel less isolated and unheard whilst chipping away at the stigma and misconceptions of the uninitiated. (11.02)
Mental After Care Association (MACA), based in London, working in partnership with health authorities and voluntary organisations
Mental Health Foundation Home Page
Mental Magazine UK, "Campaigning for good health & social care...it's for everyone", an on-line magazine with fine ideals and a discussion section (7.01)
Mentality, which is affiliated to the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health and aims to end discrimination against people with mental health problems
MIND, the UK National Association for Mental Health
Mind in Manchester website
Mindout, an active campaign to stop the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health (Freepost LON15335, London SE1 1BR)
The Music Workshop Project, a voluntarily run award (1998 Lilly Schizophrenia Reintegration Award) winning group in Kidderminster, England which aims to help people with mental health problems by involving them in various music-based activities. They have their own CD, with clips on the website. Sounds good.
New Horizons, a Community Self-Help Network located in the Scottish Borders for those with mental health problems
PsychHelp, a place to discuss and debate Psychological Issues, as well as receive Mental health support (5.03)
Re-quest.org.uk, a new website aimed towards young men experiencing mental health problems. The site includes contact details of useful organisations (including UKPPG), web links, personal stories and information about mental health and related issues (11.03)
The Richmond Fellowship, a national charity and housing association, helping over 1500 people a year through a network of over 70 projects, rehabilitation and employment
The Samaritans, with their famous all-year-round UK helpline and crisis centres
SANE, which started as Schizophrenia, A National Emergency, but through it's helpline (0845 767 8000, 12noon-2am every day) now covers all mental health, including carers, research etc.
'Start in Manchester' – a highly regarded project using art practice as a tool to aid recovery from and/or management of mental ill-health. It’s part of Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust, and works closely with the Education Services and Arts sector in Greater Manchester. The site would be of interest to health professionals, educationalists, art practitioners, service users, and carers (3.05)
Suffolk Mental Health, a mega-website of local and national information and links
Support for hope - cyber-support for people with mental health problems
UK Federation of Smaller Mental Health Agencies, a UK-based charity
UK Mental Health, a resource centre
Unllais Mental Health Agency, a a voluntary sector mental health agency in North Wales. Their website lists all mental health services for North Wales. Their address is Unllais Mental Health Agency (Helpline Update), 42 Glanrafon, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales LL57 1LH (1.04)
Wokingham & West Berkshire Mental Health Association, which is a local user-run mental health charity offering free support to sufferers and carers. It's principal services are a drop-in centre, crisis beds, befriending scheme, and a holiday/respite caravan. There is a self help discussion forum on the website that anyone can use (11.04)

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1b. Organisations - non-UK charities and self-help, general

Counsellingresource.com, a site devoted to providing free resources relating to counselling, psychotherapy and mental health. It includes introductions to different types of therapy, a large US therapist directory, an extensive annotated bibliography, book reviews, discussion and support forums, a large collection of reviewed links to other resources, the latest news in mental health from around the world, and more (1.04)
Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks, a non-political, non-sectarian organisation dedicated to publishing and promoting information and awareness about the incidence and treatment of mental illness
IDEA (Italy), Fondazione for overcoming stigma of mood disorders
Mental Health on the Internet, a huge Canadian site with lots of detailed and reliable information about drugs and mental health problems, well worth a visit.
Music Therapy and the Power of Music: Examines the power of using popular music, something people already listen to, as a way for people to express their feelings. Includes examples of therapeutic messages in popular music as well as original music by Freudian Slip, therapeutic rock band.
National Alliance for Mentally Ill (USA)
Public Initiative in Psychiatry (Russia)

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1c. Organisations - UK charities and self-help, specific interest

Action on Addiction, the only charity to take a multidisciplinary approach to tackling addiction

Age Concern, with branches/sections in England, Wales and Scotland

Alcoholics Anonymous, with local helplines

Alzheimer's Disease Society, the leading Alzheimer's care and research charity

Epilepsy Action (formerly British Epilepsy Association), based at New Anstey House, Gate Way Drive, Yeadon, Leeds LS19 7NW, Freephone Helpline: 0808 800 5050, office phone: 0113 210 8800

Club Drugs, which appears to be affiliated to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Depression Alliance, a growing and active UK organisation with a useful booklet on depression and antidepressant (the review of which led to ex-Chairman Stephen Bazire getting his only ever mention on 4.4.02 in "The Times"!)

e-epilepsy (11.03)

Fellowship of Depressive Anonymous, support for sufferers of depression and their carers

First Steps to Freedom, a couselling organisation specialising in helping people with anxiety, phobias, obsessions and tranquilliser withdrawal

Lifecraft, with an on-line mental health handbook for Cambridgeshire

MDF (Manic Depressive Fellowship), the well-known national and local bipolar organisation

MDF STEADY, from the MDF. STEADY stands for Support and Training for the Elation And Depression in Youth. Steady is an independent project developed by young people with extreme mood swings most of whom have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder

National Autistic Society, with advice and information for parents, carers and sufferers

National Phobics Society, the UK organisation for people with phobic and anxiety disorders

No Panic, the UK (totally voluntary) charity for people with panic attacks, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorders and related anxiety disorders (including tranquilliser withdrawal), based at 93, Brands Farm Way, Telford, England TF3 2JQ, tel: 01952-590005, freephone helpline on 0808 808 0545 (June 2003)
OCD-UK is a brand new dynamic UK charity, which has been founded for people who are affected by Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). They aim to bring the facts about OCD to the public and to support those who suffer in silence from this often debilitating anxiety disorder.
Rethink (was NSF or National Schizophrenia Fellowship) website
Schizophrenia Association of Great Britain, offering help for sufferes and carers, with their own research programme
Somerset and Wessex Eating Disorders Association (1.04)
Suffolk Carers
User-focused Monitoring

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1d. Organisations - non-UK charities and self-help, specific interest

Dutch Association for Manic Depressives
Mood Disorders Association of Canada, founded in 1983 as a self-help group for mania and depression
National Depressive and Manic-depressive Association (USA)
National Foundation for Depressive Illness, Inc (USA)
Support Group.com for mood disorders (USA)
Svenska Panyksyndromellskapet (Sweden), for bipolar mood disorders
World Association of Persons with Disabilities [WAPD]

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2. Information for service users and carers:

2a. Information for service users and carers from professional sources:

Electroshock.org, Dr. Max Fink's site all about ECT, with information for professionals and users, with balanced views and advice
Health Education Board for Scotland, "Talking about schizophrenia", containing "What is schizophrenia?", "Understanding schizophrenia", "Getting help", "What you can do", "Friends and friends", "The future", "Useful addresses" and "Suggestions for reading"
Hodges' Health Career - publicises a health and social care model, with much wider and universal applications, developed in the UK by Brian E Hodges
National Institute of Mental Health (US) anxiety disorders web site for consumers and health professionals, with the latest advances in diagnosis and treatment of anxiety
PsychEducation, from Jim Phelps MD, a mega-site on educating patients and doctors about bipolar 2. I met Jim at the Bipolar Conference in Pittsburgh in 2003, and he said he'd given up trying to educate doctors about medication and figured the best route to improve management of Bipolar Disorder is to education patients/service users, a decision I came to in July 2002.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists have a number of leaflets about various topics, which are also available on-line. These include: alcohol and depression, eating disorders (e.g. anorexia and bulimia nervosa), anxiety and phobias, bereavement, depression, depression in the elderly, depression in people with learning disabilities, depression in the workplace, post-natal depression, schizophrenia, sleep problems, social phobias and surviving adolescence. All are well written, easy to read, highly informative, good and appropriate links, and are thoroughly recommended. The cartoons are good too! The site is maintained by the enthusiastic Dr. Martin Briscoe (Martin.Briscoe@edchs-tr.swest.nhs.uk) from the Department of Mental Health, University of Exeter.
Schizophrenia, the Institute of Psychiatry (London) news, discussion and information site, primarily for users of mental health services and carers, may be relevant to lots of people
Salmon on-line schizophrenia education (4.03)
Seasonal Affective Disorder - frequently asked questions, and some links
UK NHS Portal for Schizophrenia, a major new web-based information resource for people with schizophrenia and their carers. The site contains a number of user-friendly sections including Evidence based treatment summaries, What is schizophrenia?, How is schizophrenia diagnosed?, Managing schizophrenia, living with schizophrenia, support for carers, legal issues, bibliography (reader's guide) and audio/video content. Produced by the Centre for Evidence Based Mental Health as part of the National electronic Library for Mental Health (www.nelmh.org), this website aims to provide patients and carers with the best available evidence to answer their questions about schizophrenia. It is the second mental health topic to be produced in this way for NHS Direct Online, following on from the successful depression website produced in October 2000. The website will develop over the coming months to include a new interface aimed at mental health professionals, which will also contain information on the following areas: Health service provision for schizophrenia, National and international know-how and Clinical trials and current research.
"Your Medicines - Any Questions?", on-line version, a good source of information about drugs for users and carers, produced by Norfolk Mental Health Care NHS Trust Pharmacy

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2b. Information for service users and carers from pharmaceutical industry:

Futurcom in Psychiatry, the Janssen-Cilag schizophrenia website. Some sections are password controlled, although passwords are free. More a generic Janssen-Cilag site
Bipolar Education, a site for patients (and professionals) on the many and varied aspects of education about bipolar disorder, supported by Lilly
Mental health Source, a schizophrenia/psychosis website for professionals (unrestricted grant from Lilly)
OCD resource centre - a US site produced by Solvay, who market fluvoxamine in there for OCD.
Psychiatry Information service, the UK Lundbeck Foundation website. One section is a public area with general information about Lundbeck and psychiatry, discussive articles for the informed lay reader, useful links and a news service. The second area is password protected and provides peer selected literature review services, discussion forums, newsletters, feedback mechanisms, news briefs and an electronic shopping mall as an extra channel for professionals to order additional educational supplies.
One in 100, supporting the one in 100 perople affected by schizophrenia, and produced by Janssen-Cilag

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3. Information mainly for professionals:

3a. Journals and medical information

American Academy of Family Physician, full text articles
Archives of General Psychiatry, with the full text of some articles and a links section
Bandolier, an excellent and highly readable evidence-based journal, on-line version
Brain Explorer, from the Lundbeck Institute - everything you wanted to know about the brain (1.04)
British Medical Journal on-line, with the full text of all the recent articles
British Journal of General Practice
British Journal of Psychiatry contents pages
Chemist and Druggist, UK community pharmacy weekly magazine, with archives
Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance from the CSM
Daily Dose, a substance misuse website run by University of Wales (Swansea) gathering substance misuse articles from the WWW and linking to them (6.01, via GHP magazine)
Evidence-based mental health contents pages
Forensic Panel Letter - updated weekly with commentaries from doctors, professors, and experts who provide an insider feel on recent higher court decisions and scientific research. The cutting-edge and practical content offers to the legal and forensic community what should be an invaluable reference tool. The database also features hundreds of articles and other original content on forensic behavioral sciences, DNA, toxicology, and pathology freely available
Hanover Psychiatric Journal, spotted by Michael Bohdan. Mainly psychology, with lots of links to psychology journals
Herbal Medicines is a great website for Herbal medicines (but costs about $100 a year in 2003)
Hospital Pharmacy Journal (10.02)
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), with full text articles and searchable archive
Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, with abstracts and tables of contents since 1991, and selected online articles
Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, a peer-reviewed biomedical periodical, official publication of the Staff Society of Seth G. S. Medical College and K. E. M. Hospital, Mumbai, India, indexed with MEDLINE and EMBASE with free full-text access to articles from basic and clinical sciences since 1980 i.e. volume 26
The Lancet, although you need to be a subscriber to search and print from the archives
Medscape, a huge psychiatry and mental health site
National Electronic Library for Health (NeLH), a new initiative announced in the UK Government's Information for Health strategy
New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), although you need to be a subscriber to search and print from the archives
NHS Trust Chief Executives Bulletin, an on-line version to see what the CE's are up to
Pharmaceutical Journal, on-line version. Free for all apparently, except for Members of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, who pay £140 a year to be members (review in Pharm J 1999, 263, 414-15)
Pharmaceutical Times, the industry-orientated glossy journal
Prescriber, on-line (from January 2000)
Primary Care National Electronic Library for Health
Primary Care Mental Health, a new (June 2003) journal from Radcliffe Medical Press
Psychiatric Bulletin contents pages
Psychiatry On Line, Priory Lodge Education Ltd International Forum for psychiatry
Quackwatch, a wonderfully named site that looks at the benefits or otherwise of alternative therapies, health fraud, quackery etc.
Rating scales from Medal, which has literally hundreds of (referenced) scales and algorithms from just about all the psychiatric rating scales to kinetics, nutrition, SI units etc (thanks to Wendy Ackroyd, our Dumfries correspondent for this one). If you want LUNSERS, click here
Substancemisuse.net, another substance misuse website, a portal for news on drug and alcohol misuse and with opinion, professional reports, resources, and features, personal stories from those with a substance misuse problem, customised content for the general public, practitioners, and problem users and Community discussion forums, run by David Clark PhD (Director of WIRED), Professor of Psychology
Virtual Hospital, psychopharmacology pages access with lots of review articles an a range of specific topics

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3b. Professional and governmental organisations (UK)

Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, with members websites, press releases and general information, although quite how they qualify for the ".org.uk" in their URL beats me
British Association for Psychopharmacology
British Psychological Society Centre for Clinical Outcomes, Research and Effectiveness website
Centre for Evidence-Based Mental Health
CHI - the Commission for Health Improvement, and we now have a UKPPG CHI (Commission for Health Improvement) advice page
Clinical Governance Research and Development Unit, with downloadable audit protocols, including auditing benzodiazepine use in the community/primary care
College of Pharmacy Practice, the UK organisation
CSM - Committee on the Safety of Medicines, with link to "Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance"
Drugscope (formerly the Institute for Study of Drug Dependency), with links to other useful substance misuse sites
East Anglian Pharmacy Academic Practice Unit in Norwich
Guild of Health Care Pharmacists, where there are many things, including pages of protocols and advice statements (on the policy page).
Institute of Psychiatry in London, a charity that raises funds for mental illness and brain disease research at the Institute of Psychiatry - one of the world's leading centres for psychiatric and psychological medicine. Their new site has a wide range of information for the public written by leading experts
MCA - Medicines Control Agency in UK
Midlands Therapeutic Review Advisory Committee (MTRAC), bulletins produced by West Midlands NHS Executive, to help managed entry of drugs
National Association of Psychiatric Intensive Care Units, of which our own Carol Paton is a key member. There is also a book called 'Psychiatric Intensive Care' Eds Beer, Pereira & Paton, Published by Greenwich Medical Media ISBN 1 900151 87 1.
National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), the UK Special Health Authority, with a brief to produce guidelines and best practice standards for England and Wales (but not Scotland) (see review in Pharmaceutical Journal 1999, 262, 490-91)
SIGN, the Scottish version of NICE - smaller but quicker, allegedly
National Pharmaceutical Association, the UK community pharmacy (and others) organisation
National Prescribing Centre (NPC), producers of the MeReC Bulletins
Opening Doors: social exclusion, adult vocational guidance and access’ (info from Dr Pamela M Clayton, Research Fellow, University of Glasgow)
Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee for all you UK retail buffs
Public Health Laboratory Service, with the Communicable Diseases Surveillance Centre
Royal College of General Practitioners
Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Psychiatrists home page
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain website
Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, co-ordinating a programme of research, evaluation, training and service development

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3c. Professional and governmental organisations (non-UK and International)

IRIS - Initiatives to Reduce the Impact of Schizophrenia, a website devoted to early intervention in schizophrenia, with guidelines, tool kit, references, resources etc. Excellent
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Association of European Psychiatrists - they have no website at the moment but can be contacted by e-mail to aep.Strasbourg@wanadoo.fr, or by post to AEP, Clinique Psychiatrique, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, 1, place de l'Hôpital, F-67091 Strasbourg Cedex, France. Tel +33 388 36 62 47, Fax +33 388 11 61 89.
College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists, new website. Featuring administrative documents (Constitution, By Laws, Procedures, etc.), historical documents (presentations at earlier CPNP meetings), slide presentations on therapeutic issues or tables of drugs or interactions, audio and video material etc. Maintained by the ever energetic Stephen R Saklad Pharm.D, (University of Texas, College of Pharmacy, e-mail Saklad@uthscsa.edu
European Association of Hospital Pharmacists website, some of which is password-protected but registering is fairly easy
European College of Neuropsychopharmacology website
European Pharmacists for Psychiatry and Neurology
European Medicines Evaluation Unit/Control Agency
FDA - the US Food and Drugs Administration, easy to use and search
Global Health Network - contact source (or "Supercourse" as it is quaintly described) for epidemiology experts, amongst other things
International Kraepelin Society website, celebrating this most important person. Don't forget, it was he who sorted out mood disorders from schizophrenia, the latter being described as "Dementia praecox" (early dementia). 100 years on and research is now beginning to show that perhaps he was right after all.
International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD), based in Pittsburgh
International Society for Affective Disorders (ISAD), Prof. Chris Thompson's new society for researchers into affective disorders.
National Institute of Mental Health - US Government organisation
NCDEU, the New Drug Clinical Evaluation Unit, in the USA
World Health Organisation, where you can search for and print off documents and press releases

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3d. Medical information

pharma-lexicon, the world's largest database of medical, pharma, biotech and agrochem abbreviations - 50,000 entries. It is free and you can also download our search box and have it on your computer (desktop) - this is also free. There is also a Hand Held version of this database (3.02)
BNF, the British National Formulary
Dr Bob's Mental Health Links - Dr Robert Hsiung's site, mainly for professionals
Electroshock.org, Dr. Max Fink's site all about ECT, with information for professionals and users, with balanced views and advice
Lithium information centre, from the Stanley Foundation
Medicinal Plants Used For Psycotrophic or Behavioral Modification Activity website
Psychiatry Matters, a huge, huge website supported by Organon, with loads of independent information on psychiatry and medicines (and the URL cleverly has a .md at the end - which means it is in Moldova apparently)
PsychNet-UK psychology net site, courtesy of Robert Fisher from PsychNet-UK
Serotonin Syndrome website, an esoteric site if ever there was (6.01)
SMAC Guidelines for the use of donepezil, causing a stir around the UK
Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP)
Toxbase, a Scottish searchable database on drugs in pregnancy and other toxicity data. The pregnancy database includes such things as Tinned Tomato Soup. It is password protected, but you can apply easily enough.
3rd National Memory Clinic Conference report (6.01)
Bipolar Education, a site for professionals (and patients) on the many and varied aspects of education about bipolar disorder (supported by Lilly)
Herbal Medicines Safety News from DoH in UK (6.02)

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3e. Pharmacy information sites and related pharmacy matters

Addenbrooke's Hospital Pharmacy website
Bourne's Directory of hospital and PCT pharmacists (3.03)
Cannabis, a well-produced and informative professional site about the potential uses for cannabis
MCA guide to supplementary prescribing, under current consultation documents (6.02)
CASP - Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP), details of their recommendations, useful for the CMHP portfolio
A spoonful of Sugar, The UK Audit Commission report from December 2001 on how Hospital trusts should identify how well they manage medicines. The briefing is available here.
"A First Class Service", the 1998 NHS White Paper, in summary form for downloading
Benzodiazepines - Prof. Heather Ashton's homepage on the subject, with loads of documents on various aspects of benzodiazepine dependence, withdrawal etc.
Clinical Supervision website with loads of interesting stuff
Concordance, the RPSGB site
Druginfozone, Guy's drug information site, well worth a regular look
Drug Tariff on-line
East Anglian Academic Pharmacy Practice Unit in Norwich
East Anglian LPC web site with information about community pharmaceutical services in Norfolk, Cambridge and Suffolk
Electronics Medicines Compendium, with the SPCs (formerly the Data Sheets) of all 2500 UK licensed meds, although you have to register as a healthcare professional
Medical Toxicology Laboratory, where you can download assay forms for olanzapine and clozapine plasma levels. Their price list is included and they can assay most anticonvulsants (inc. carbamazepine, clobazam, clonazepam, diazepam, lamotrigine, topiramate and valproate), antidepressants (amitriptyline/nortriptyline, citalopram, clomipramine, dothiepin, fluoxetine, doxepin, fluvoxamine, imipramine/lofepramine, paroxetine and others) and antipsychotics (e.g. amisulpride, clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, sulpiride, risperidone, flupentixol, fluphenazine) (via Anees, 9.02)
Guide to Good Prescribing, from the WHO
Group Protocols website, run by Hope Hospital Pharmacy for people in need of group protocols for the administration of medicines by people other than medical practitioners (see Pharm J 2000, 264, 354)
"HospitalWeb" John Lester's Harvards Worldwide site index
Medicine, Psychiatry and Forensic Expert
MI technician accredited training scheme
National Service Framework for mental health, released (at last) at the end of September 1999. The full text (all 160 pages of it) and summary can be obtained from that site
North West NHS Pharmacy website with summer opportunities, pre-reg information, pharmacist and technician vacancies
Patient Group Directions website
Pharmacy Community Care Liaison Group, set up in 1992 by the Regional Pharmaceutical Officers to advise on such matters. There are several papers which may be of use e.g. information for patients etc.
Pharmacy in the future, a new website to help practising pharmacists implement the NHS Plan and Pharmacy programme, a collaboration between Primary Care Pharmacists Association, Primary and Community Care Pharmacy network, Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists, Company Chemists Association, Pharmaceutical Advisers Group, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, National Pharmaceutical Association and RPSGB. The website has been designed to follow the modernisation programme format and includes links to key resources for pharmacists on the modernisation programme. The sections on older people and access to services have been developed first and sections on patient groups (older people, children) medicines management, clinical disease areas (CHD, cancer, mental health and diabetes), quality issues, use of staff, and reshaping pharmacy services are all under development (6.01)
Pharmacy Management website, by Ted Butler Associates, based around the excellent "Pharmacy management" journal
Pharmacy sites of interest, a links page with much (mainly US) orientated material (6.02)
Pharmacy Net, a one-stop shop for all branches of the profession (from Pharm J 2000, 264, 507)
Pharmweb, Manchester University Pharmacy information on the Internet, with lots of links to other pharmacetical sites
Primary Care Pharmacists Association (UK), but all password controlled
Reasearch funds available in UK, a useful compendium of what's available and from whom (3.03)
UK Medicines Information Pharmacists Group site, with lots of useful information (although as of 22.10.01 was not working)
University of Texas in San Antonio Department of Pharmacy website
Welsh Hospital Website, run by the Hospital Chief Pharmacists in Wales, with hospital profiles, and career opportunities.
West Midlands Chief Pharmacists Group website, with information on hospital pharmacy and career opportunities in the West Midlands (England).
"What's new" on the Department of Health website, for the latest updates
Watchminder - a watch that reminds you when to take your tablets. It was about £60 in 2002, and could be very useful for some people.

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3f. Searching and search engines

Free MedLine access, free to the world courtesy of the US Government. Very fast these days, but can slow up sometimes after about midday (European time) as all the Americans wake up, get to work and start using it, so if you have a choice, search early (European time). For some random advice, click here
General Medical Council access to UK Doctors' registration details so you can check on names and registration details (for guidance only - GMC recommends final check in cases of doubt)
"Internet Grateful Med,the wonderfully titled "Grateful Med", which Walter Broekema recommends as a good search/query site, with MedLine and a dozen others
Medisearch, a UK medical search engine from Mirahealth
Hardin meta-Directory of Internet Health resources
Health Index, mainly UK, good for Department of Health circulars and press releases
Health a-to-z, a large directory of resources
National Guideline Clearinghouse from USA
Sumsearch, Peter Pratt's recommended site for searching the net for drug info, based at San Antonio in Texas
Yahoo!, with a UK and Ireland emphasis

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3g. Links sites

BioMedNet, the internet Community for Biological and Medical Researchers, with free evaluated MedLine
Dr Bob's Mental Health Links - Dr Robert Hsiung's site, mainly for professionals
European Pharmaceutical Students' Association
Free Medical Journals.com, with a stated objective of "the promotion of free access to medical journals over the Internet". Some of the free pharmaceutical journals include the American Journal of Health System Pharmacy, Consultant Pharmacist, Drug Safety, Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association, Pharmacy Practice etc. In May 2001 there were 118 English Language journals available
GP website database website with loads of interesting links to GP-related sites
Health Centre index of UK healthcare resources
UK self-help, one of the best links pages for UK self-help and problem-based webpages, from Steve and Julie Garrill (revamped 1.05)

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3h. Evidence-based medicine sites

Bandolier, an excellent and highly readable evidence-based journal, on-line version, with other related resources and links
(NNT) explanation pages (might even be Numbers Needed to Treat)
NNT ready-reckoner, a Californian University on-line NNT calculator
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford
Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) NHS, a "sibling" organisation to the UK Cochrane Centre
Clinical Evidence, from BMJ publishing, the best available evidence for effective healthcare
Cochrane Collaboration e.g. find the schizophrenia working group
The Cochrane Library - one of the best single source of reliable evidence about the effects of health care
Effective Healthcare, the EBM bimonthly bulletin for NHS on healthcare interventions
Health Evidence Bulletins Wales, Bulletin on Learning Disabilities (Intellectual Disability). The latest is now available and can be downloaded in full from the home-page in Acrobat format. Feedback on the project is welcomed and a brief (E-mailable!) feedback form is provided on the site.
Netting the Evidence, Evidence-based practice sites, an alphabetical list of over 300 of them from ScHARR
Systematic Reviews Training Unit
The Therapeutic Initiative, who's objectives are to produce unbiased reviews and dissemination of therapeutic evidence

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3i. Publishers

APS (Academic Publishing Services), who publish some pharmaceutical books and journals, including "FAQ frequently Asked Questions" (the proper version of "Your Medicines - Any Questions?")
Cambridge University Press (UK), with other sites for the World and Australia
Fivepin Publishing, for Stephen Bazire's 'Psychotropic Drug Directory' and 'GP Psychotropic Handbook' etc
Mark Allen Publishing Limited, who publish some pharmaceutical books (e.g. Psychotropic Drug Directory) and journals, some of which are now on-line
Martin Dunitz Ltd, who publish a variety of pharmaceutical and psychiatric journals e.g. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice and books
Merck website, with links to the Merck Manual, "the world's most widely used medical text"
Pharmaceutical Press, publishing arm of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society

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3j. Pharmaceutical Industry sites

Pharmaceutical-industry, a new site that provides companies around the world with a clear and informative list of products and services from a wide range of pharmaceutical suppliers, an online community with a newsgroup listing, links to associations, a PR and news section, and discussion forum (7.02)
ABPI careers website, although I'm still unsure quite how careers in the Pharmaceutical Industry classify under the .org.uk charity organisation URL ending....
ascribe, ASC Computer Software Ltd, who produce a pharmacy system that many mental health (and general) pharmacies in the UK are now using
British Association of European Pharmaceutical Distributors, with information on UK licensing system for parallel imports, API itself etc. Quite how it got to be classified as an "org" (ie charity) is beyond me
IDIS, where you can e-mail drug supply enquiries, and has a good links page
Pharmaceutical Packaging audit - Idris Hughes fears that industry is letting us all down re: patient packs and wants to build a compelling monument to its inadequacy in packaging in the belief that this might result in action
Pharmaceutical Technology, the pharmaceutical industry's international product and service supplier catalogue, with a global events and conference diary, global associations directory, projects and industry links
Phoenix-pharma, who make a number of useful injections and other products in the UK
Psychiatry Information service, the UK Lundbeck Foundation website. One section is a public area with general information about Lundbeck and psychiatry, discussive articles for the informed lay reader, useful links and a news service. The second area is password protected and provides peer selected literature review services, discussion forums, newsletters, feedback mechanisms, news briefs and an electronic shopping mall as an extra channel for professionals to order additional educational supplies.

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4. Miscellaneous

BBC news service, with the daily news
Health central, an organisation dedicated to helping people set up their own websites in health-related matters, run by GP Simon Bradley, Primary Care Technologies Ltd: Making the Net work for health, 48 Coronation Road, Southville, Bristol, (+44) 07970 285651 (Aug 2000)
Medical humour
More Medical humour
The Answers, an independent website which carries a selection of "survivor" comments, as well as some well chosen extracts highlighting the way people have allowed the pharmaceutical industry to dominate events such as APA. Worth a read to remind you to continue to review the extent to which you can be influenced
"No free lunch", a fascinating insight into the ways we are all undoubtedly, and probably unwillingly, influenced, complete with a new pharmacy page
PowerPointers, a site with advice on how to do good presentations
Stress Management Centre, stress management and counselling for individuals and organisations
Pharma Translation Services from someone called Bazire (no relation)

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This has been produced by the UK Psychiatric Pharmacy Group.

Was this useful? Were any of these particularly useful? Know any other good sites? Were any of these links dead?
Please leave an e-mail and let me know, then I can let other people know too.

Net-Watch.org.uk, Clive Rogers' Netwatch website with lots of links.
Thanks to Katie Smith (MI Pharmacist, East Anglian MI Service), Bob Shaw (EAAPPU, UEA) for some others