BMJ Award for NHS Choices Guide to the Medical Science in the News

LONDON - The national NHS website, NHS Choices, has scooped the prestigious BMJ award for innovation in medical communications, for its evidence-based Behind the headlines service.

Using a team of independent medical analysts, Bazian, the NHS website places an expert eye on the ’science’ behind the day’s most prominent medical research-based stories in the media.

A daily stream of media stories, sometimes contradicting a report from the previous day, can leave both the public and healthcare professionals at a loss to be able to decipher which should be taken seriously and which should be taken with a pinch of salt.

For the first time, the NHS is now providing an official evidence-based analyis of these stories, and this important contribution to medical communications has been recognised by the British Medical Journal.

Stories analysed on NHS Choices in the past week include claims that scientists had found a cure for deafness through stem cell research, www.nhs.uk/news/2009/04April/Pages/Stemcellsfordeafness.aspx, to research that claimed to have found evidence that having coffee before going to gym makes exercise less painful, www.nhs.uk/news/2009/03March/Pages/CoffeeExercisePain.aspx

NHS Choices editor Paul Nuki said:

“Helping people make sense of the mass of health information out there goes to the heart of what NHS Choices is about.

“The media is reporting the latest developments in medical research every day. The absolutely crucial factor with all of these stories is to see whether the science justifies the headline. Behind the headlines looks at the science, and then analyses whether the evidence stacks up.

“The service has proved popular with ordinary citizens, doctors and journalists alike.”

Further information

Behind the headlines from NHS Choices can be found at www.nhs.uk/news

If you want to learn how to analyse medical science stories yourself, use this guide from NHS Choices, www.nhs.uk/news/Pages/Howtoreadarticlesabouthealthandhealthcare.aspx

Details of the BMJ awards can be found at, group.bmj.com/products/group-awards/bmj-group-award-winners

NHS Choices, www.nhs.uk, is the most popular health website in the UK, recording 7 million visits in March. In addition to Behind the headlines, it is the front door for NHS services and includes a comprehensive A-Z of conditions.

For enquiries about NHS Choices, please contact NHS Choices press team on +44-(0)207-972-1812.

Source: NHS Choices

For enquiries about NHS Choices, please contact NHS Choices press team on +44-(0)207-972-1812.