Patient experience website breaks mental health taboo

Journalist and newsreader Jon Snow, who chaired the launch in London, said: "This is an extremely important moment because Dipex is coming of age in a very big way.

“This is the fourteenth module coming onto the site. I do think this is a resource that some people who suffer from depression will find interesting."

The website is different to other health information services in that it focuses on patient experience from initial diagnosis, through treatment to cure or acceptance, and features questions that patients themselves ask. It also claims to be of benefit to families, carers and clinicians too.

Other support modules on Dipex include breast cancer, testicular cancer, epilepsy and heart disease. Support and testimonies concerning general topics such as pregnancy and teenage health are also planned.

Louis Appleby, national director of mental health for the NHS, gave wholehearted support to the launch of the new section of the website. "The people who use this site will be able to benefit because they will be able to recognise patient experience similar to their own. There’s a moment that have; a moment of relief that ‘you’ve seen this before’.

"The site can also be used by carers. They too have to understand what’s wrong with their patients. The site has to be used by GPs and other clinicians, because you still don’t have enough knowledge of mental health in primary care.

“I wish it well and I look forward to seeing more."

The site began in 2002, and is operated by Dr Ann McPherson, medical director and Dr Damien Ridge, senior researcher. Dr McPherson said: “The whole Dipex project started when we had illnesses ourselves, and we became more and more aware that the doctors didn’t tell us everything themselves."

Dr McPherson told EHI that future plans for Dipex include full integration into the NHS Direct website and possibly into electronic health records or HealthSpace, and GPs or other clinicians could insert links to the website into people’s records for them to peruse. “Not everyone is technologically savvy in that way. We want to make it as socially inclusive as possible."

Funding, however, is a major issue for Dipex, due to the cost of hosting, development and evaluation. The charity is looking for funds for the hosting of a new module, already developed, devoted to Alzheimers’ carers.

“We would like a big government grant,” said Dr McPherson. “The Department of Health could put some money into this. It could be put into every outpatients and GPs’ surgery."

Lord Stone of Blackheath, chairman of the Dipex project, told EHI that they were intending to publish a new site every month for the next eight months.

Dipex is aiming to publish information, support and personal testimony for one hundred main illnesses and conditions within the next ten years, as well as have DVDs and CD-ROMs available in GP surgeries and outpatients’ clinics for those without access to the internet.

Dipex is based on funded research based in the Department of Primary Healthcare at Oxford University. It is currently being used in GP and nurse training and in patient advisory and liaison services.

The website address is www.dipex.org.