The Medical Policy consists of:
· Medical Review Standards
· Expert Review Panel
· List of Expert Review Panel Members
Medical Review Standards
Our aim
AAH's aim in providing this service is to bring together information from evidence-based medicine and general medical knowledge into practical and user-friendly tools to help you better manage your own health and that of your family.
The content on the site is provided by our independent service provider, Expert-24 Limited. Expert-24 Ltd has full editorial control over content.
Quality Assurance
Expert-24 has endeavoured to ensure that the content within the service supports our aim. Expert-24 will continue to strive to ensure content is*:
Robust - All information used is derived from reputable, referenced sources and subject to rigorous expert review. The Symptom Assessment and Health Planner functions have been written by the medical staff of Expert-24 and reviewed by an independent Expert Review Panel. All content is subject to regular review and updated to incorporate the latest evidence.
The Symptom Assessments are evidence-based reflecting extensive research including the Cochrane and Bandolier databases, journal searches, consensus opinion papers, government publications, World Health Organisation documents, and other reputable sources of information.
The research and statistical modelling behind the Health Risk Assessments within the Health Planner has been led by Dr. John Fletcher. Dr. John Fletcher is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Oxford Department of Public Health and an Associate Editor for the British Medical Journal. He holds a Masters degree in Public Health Quantitative Methods and is a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners.
The Medical Encyclopaedia content is sourced from the most recent edition of the Complete Family Health Guide by Dorling Kindersley which itself has stringent quality assurance standards.
Independent - The content on the site is provided to us by Expert-24 Limited, an independent company.
No member of the Expert Review Panel has any financial stake in Expert-24 Ltd or Ltd. No advertising is permitted on the site.
Content creation and ongoing Quality Assurance is provided by Expert-24 Ltd and its Expert Review Panel. AAH has no involvement in the decision-making of the panel.
Up to date - All clinical material is subject to review by Expert-24 at least annually.
* AHH cannot and does not guarantee that the information on this site is free from all errors. You are referred to the Terms and Conditions governing the use of this website.
Expert Review Panel
Terms of reference
The aim of the Expert Review Panel is to ensure clinical and epidemiological content is robust, independent and up to date.
Composition
The panel is chaired by Dr Robin Christie, General Practitioner.
The Expert Review Panel includes representatives from General Practice, Emergency Medicine, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Paediatrics, and multiple other specialties.
Qualifications
All members reviewing the Symptom Assessment module are practicing doctors on the current GMC register.
A thorough review of the Health Planner requires input from multiple disciplines in addition to medicine. Reviewers are chosen for their expertise in fields such fields Public Health epidemiology, Statistics, and Medicine.
All practising doctors are members of the appropriate Royal College.
All practicing doctors participate in the appraisal process for their particular specialty, as applicable.
List of Expert Review Panel members
Chairman of the Medical Review Panel
Dr. Robin Christie
· Year of qualification: - 1977
· Qualifications: - B.Sc,MB.ChB,MRCGP,DRCOG
· Current Post: - GP,Hitchin, LMC member
· Special Interests: - GP Tutor and GP Trainer
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Contributing authors and reviewers for the Symptom Assessments
Dr. Gbenga Afolabi
· Year of qualification: - 1984
· Qualifications: - Bsc. MD, FRCP
· Current Post: - Respiratory Consultant North Tyneside General Hospital
· Special Interests: - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma and pulmonary rehabilitation.
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Miss Janet Baldwin
· Year of qualification: - 1972
· Qualifications: - MB BS MRCS LRCP
· Current Post: - Consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology, West Midulesex University Hospital
· Special Interests: - Urogynaecology
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Mr. Ian Bottrill
· Year of qualification: - 1986
· Qualifications: - BM FRCS(ORL)
· Current Post: - Consultant Otolaryngologist, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford
· Special Interests: - Otology
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Dr. Emma Boulton
· Year of qualification: - 1989
· Qualifications: - MB BS DRACOG MPH
· Current Post: - Director, Oxford Health Consulting. GP Registrar in Oxfordshire
· Special Interests: - Public Health medicine in industry, the private sector and Government health sector. International Public Health. Primary Care Development.
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Dr. Jeremy Chataway
· Year of qualification: - 1989
· Qualifications: - BM,BCH,MA,PhD,MRCP
· Current Post: - Consultant Neurologist, St Mary's Hospital
· Special Interests: - Stroke, Multiple sclerosis
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Dr. Irving Cobden
· Year of qualification: - 1973
· Qualifications: - MBBS (1973) MD (1980) FRCP (1991)
· Current Post: - Medical Director for North Tyneside General Hospital Consultant Physician
· Special Interests: - Emergency Care Systems
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Professor Trisha Greenhalgh OBE
· Year of qualification: - 1983
· Qualifications: - MA MD FRCP FRCGP
· Current Post: - Professor of Primary Health Care, University College London
· Special Interests: - General practice and evidence based medicine. Received the Order of the British Empire in 2000 for services to evidence based medical care. She has written or co-written several textbooks including: - "Evidence Based Medicine" and "How to Read a Paper".
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Mr. Christopher J Hammond
· Year of qualification: - 1988
· Qualifications: - MA MD MRCP FRCOphth
· Current Post: - Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon, West Kent Eye Centre, Farnborough Hospital, Orpington and Hon Consultant, Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, St Thomas' Hospital, London.
· Special Interests: - Cataract surgery, paediatric ophthalmology and strabismus, genetic epidemiology
· Additional information: - Is a practising ophthalmologist and researches the genetic aspects of common eye diseases such as myopia, cataract and macular degeneration.
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Dr. Tim A. Holt
· Year of qualification: - 1987
· Qualifications: - MB BS MRCP DRCOG FRCGP
· Current Post: - General Practitioner, Clinical Assistant in Gastroenterology.
· Special Interests: - Gastroenterology, Diabetes, Complexity in Healthcare.
· Additional information: - FRCGP by Assessment (2000). Member of the Complexity in Primary Care.
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Mr. Duncan Ingrams
· Year of qualification: - 1987
· Qualifications: - MA BMBCh FRCS(ORL-HNS)
· Current Post: - Consultant Otorhinolaryngologist - Head and Neck Surgeon
· Special Interests: - Treatment of head and neck cancers and benign voice problems.
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Dr. Laurence O'Toole
· Year of qualification: - 1989
· Qualifications: - BMedSci MRCP MD
· Current Post: - Consultant Cardiologist, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Honorary Senior Lecturer University of Sheffield
· Special Interests: - Heart Failure,Echocardiography
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Dr. Mary Ramsay
· Year of qualification: - 1967
· Qualifications: - MB.ChB., Diploma in Therapeutics, Certificates in family planning and community paediatrics.
· Current Post: - Salaried GP in general practice. Clinical governance lead South-East primary Care Trust.
· Special Interests: - Chronic disease management including coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, diabetes and Care of the Elderly.
· Additional information: - Research registrar in hypertension Unit. Principal in general Practice 17 years.
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Authors and reviewers for the Health Risk Assessments and Health Planner
Dr. Emma Boulton
· Year of qualification: - 1989
· Qualifications: - MB BS DRACOG MPH
· Current Post: - Director, Oxford Health Consulting. GP Registrar in Oxfordshire.
· Special Interests: - Public Health medicine in industry, the private sector and Government health sector. International Public Health. Primary Care Development.
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Dr. Martin Dawes
· Year of qualification: - 1978
· Qualifications: - MB.BS DRCOG MRCGP MD
· Current Post: - Professor & Chair Family Medicine McGill University, Montreal, Canada
· Special Interests: - Evidence Based Health Care, Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, knowledge management.
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Dr. John Fletcher
· Year of qualification: - 1985
· Qualifications: - MA Cambridge, MPH Harvard, MB BChir Cambridge, MRCGP (Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners), MFPHM (Membership of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians).
· Current Post: - Associate Editor British Medical Journal, Consultant Public Health Physician, General Practitioner, Company Director, Oxford Health Consulting.
· Special Interests: - Applied Epidemiology, uResearch Methods
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
Dr. Jonathan Mant
· Year of qualification: - 1985
· Qualifications: - MA MSc MBBS MFPHM
· Current Post: - Senior lecturer - Department of Primary Care & General Practice, University of Birmingham.
· Special Interests: - Stroke & cardiovascular disease
· GMC registration last verified: - April 2010
