NLH for Patients

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• NLH for Patients

Created by Jane Tatlow as part of the NLH Search
2.0 Representatives Group. Last updated 02.04.08
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• Reliable medical information written for those
  who are not health professionals.
• This may be for patients, carers or relatives.
• For patients searches the NHS Health
  Encyclopaedia and over 100 additional websites
  from charities, professional bodies and other
  reputable organisations quality checked by NHS
  Direct Online.
• Additional links to other relevant resources are
  also provided.

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Go to the NLH Homepage www.library.nhs.uk and
select the For Patients link.
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For Patients searches the NHS Health Encyclopaedia
For Patients also searches over 100 additional
websites which have been quality checked by NHS
Direct Online. Use the A-Z links to navigate
through the list
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For Patients also provides links to other
relevant resources. These are not included in the
search but may provide additional information.
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A basic search feature is provided to search
either the NHS Health Encyclopedia or the
encyclopedia and quality checked websites.
Select whether or not to search the NHS Health
Encyclopedia only.
Type a word or phrase into the search box eg,
diabetes
Finally select SEARCH to view results
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TroubleshootingIf you run a search but dont
find what you are looking for

• AND finds results with all your terms included
  (the search automatically does this if you type
  more than one word), e.g. diabetes AND insulin
• To search for a phrase, use quotation marks, e.g.
  heart attack.
• OR finds results with either word. You might use
  it to search for alternative words, synonyms or
  english/american spellings, e.g. oestrogen OR
  estrogen
• NOT excludes results containing any words you
  specify, e.g. breast NOT cancer

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If you get far too many sites with an ALL search
try some of the following expert tips

• sitefor example siteuk will only find results
  from websites that include .uk at the end of
  their web address.
• inurlfor example inurldiabetes will only find
  results that include the term diabetes in the web
  address
• allinurl does the same for more than one word,
  for example allinurlbreast cancer
• intitlefor example intitlestroke will find web
  pages that include the word stroke as part of the
  web page title.
• allintitle does the same for more than one word
  for example allintitlestroke treatment
• IMPORTANT NOTE. Take particular care not to
  include a space immediately after the

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Browsing For Patients
You can browse the NHS Encyclopaedia by selecting
a topic. For example, selecting Complementary
medicines displays the sub-topic acupuncture.
Selecting this topic will display a patient
leaflet for that subject.
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You can print the leaflet, or view a structured
version using the links provided.
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To browse the quality checked websites simply use
the links to move through the alphabet and select
a suitable website.
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Keep up-to-date with newly published information
by using the news feeds Then use the
My Library section of NLH or your own RSS reader
to view the latest news. Look for further
information from the News link or the NLH Home
page.

• Queries and feedbackIf you have any further
  queries or want to feed back about the resources,
  please use this link to the NLH service desk
  http//www.library.nhs.uk/about/feedback.aspx
• NLH Helpdesknlhenquiries_at_institute.nhs.uk
• or contact your local health library
• Other guides in this series
• Using the 6 NLH resources an overview
• Using NLH Evidence Based Reviews
• Using NLH Specialist Libraries
• Using NLH Guidance
• Using NLH Images
• Using NLH For Patients
• Using Healthcare Databases Simple Search
• Using Healthcare Databases Advanced Search