1. https://pathways.nice.org.uk

The National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) is a non-departmental public body, accountable to the Department of Health in England & Wales, with responsibility for developing guidance and quality standards for health and social care. Its guidelines, pathways and other recommendations are made by independent committees.

For summaries, in plain English, of the recommendations NICE makes to health professionals, go to the above URL, click on the desired topic from the alphabetical list, then click on Information for the Public.

2. https://medlineplus.gov

This website is published for patients, their families and friends by the US National Library of Medicine, part of the National Institute of Health (NIH) that country's medical research agency. Its information is regularly reviewed by experts and aims to offer reliable, up-to-date health information.

Go to the URL, click on Health Topics or Drugs & Supplements and search the alphabetical lists.

3. www.sign.ac.uk/guidelines/published/index.html

The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) is part of NHS Quality Improvement, Scotland. It develops and disseminates national evidence-based clinical guidelines, mostly relating to NHS priority areas such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and mental health but there is also guidance on other topics including child health, surgery and obstetrics.

Go to the URL, click on a topic. These are designated according to the year they were produced, with advice to use the older guidelines (more than 7 years) only with caution.

4. www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer

Thorough, authoritative and straightforward advice from this national charity contains detailed information on all forms of cancer, including screening, symptoms, diagnostic tests, treatment and outlook.

Go to URL and click on Cancer Types.

5. www.cafamily.org.uk/medical-information

Contact a Family is a UK national charity for families with disabled children. Amongst its objectives is to provide information, advice and support in bringing families together so they can support each other. Its website is particularly helpful for those enquiring after rare or uncommon diseases, although it is not exclusively devoted to these.

Go to the URL and click on the alphabetical list of conditions.