Not good for hypochrondriacs! (NHS Direct)

Member Name: jennikitten

Product:	NHS Direct
Date:	03/01/09 (118 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Check symptoms, get advice

Disadvantages: Could make you paranoid or mislead you

NHS Direct is a way to get professional medical advice from the comfort of your own home, especially useful as not all people are conveniently ill when the local surgery is open or when they have a free appointment.

You can visit the website, www.nhsdirect.co.uk, call the phone number (08454647), or check it out on some kinds of digital tv.

The only form of NHS Direct I've ever used is the website, so that is what my review will focus on.

The website is clearly laid out in the blue and white NHS colours, and is easy to navigate with the main menu of links on the left, and useful links on the home page itself. The main reasons I've used it in the past is symptom checking - trying to narrow down or find out what particular ailment I or one of my friends was suffering from. For example, if you had a sore eye, you can answer a series of quiz style short questions and it gives you potential reasons why, what illness or problem you may have, and even suggests advice you should take.

This can pose a few problems as I'm one of those semi-hypochondriacs who insists that they don't have a sore eye, they are going blind or have meningitis or something, and so a lot of the time the quiz questions freak me out until I realise a) I don't REALLY have that symptom or b) the question is a bit misleading. Once you get past that, though, the advice is generally sound and it does recommend you check with your doctor (or in worst cases go to hospital) as a final and proper measure. I think this makes life easier for people who don't want to panic about their health or aren't sure if a doctor's or hospital visit is worth it, or simply can't get in touch with their GP.

I imagine it's especially good for parents, pregnancies and the elderly as they are the groups that could gain the most information from it.

You can also get advice on NHS jobs, latest news, frequent questions (e.g. whether you need a flu jab etc.), so I would say that the website is probably more instantly helpful and relevant than phoning or through the TV.

Summary: Worth a bookmark