National charity Epilepsy Action is one of the first organisations in the UK to be certified as a quality provider of health and social care information. The charity has been accredited by The Information Standard – a new certification scheme for health and social care information. The scheme is supported by the Department of Health.
Epilepsy Action has demonstrated it has the necessary processes and systems to ensure its information meets the rigorous quality criteria of The Information Standard. The Information Standard logo can be displayed on all information materials as a mark of quality and reassurance for the public.
The majority of the general public (71per cent)* feels overwhelmed by the health and social care information available to them. The Information Standard was launched to give the public a quick way of identifying good quality health and social care information, and to drive up standards among producers. The public can be confident that Epilepsy Action is a trusted and reliable source of information about epilepsy. It is currently the only epilepsy charity to be accredited.
Angela Coulter PhD, Hon FFPH, Hon FRCGP an independent healthcare analyst who advises on the scheme, commented: “Those organisations that are able to display The Information Standard mark will immediately be able to differentiate themselves from competitors, as producing high quality information that people can rely upon. The rigorous certification procedure will help to raise information production standards and inspire confidence in organisations that they are performing to the highest standards.”
Sue Mitchell, communications manager at Epilepsy Action, said: "We have always been proud of the quality of our advice and information materials, and now that is backed by The Information Standard quality mark. All people needing epilepsy information can now be doubly confident that Epilepsy Action materials are accurate, up-to-date and fully tested. The Department of Health supports The Information Standard and we hope that healthcare professionals will back it by looking for the quality mark when deciding which materials to give to their patients."
There are more than 50,000 organisations producing health and social care information in England. Any of these can apply to join the scheme and become certified, whether they are a public sector organisation (NHS or local authority), a voluntary sector organisation, or a commercial company.
Epilepsy Action is the UK's largest member-led epilepsy organisation. The charity helps more than 685,500 people every year through a range of services including its advice and information centre, branch network and accredited volunteer scheme. For more information, visit www.epilepsy.org.uk
* Omnibus survey of 1,000 adults commissioned by DH and carried out by TNS in March 2007