WITH winter fast approaching, and the stresses and strains of the build-up to the Christmas holiday season just around the corner, many of my patients are looking for health advice.

People often want timely, accurate and reliable health advice - whether it's how best to relax before hosting a Christmas party, how to treat a hangover, or how to know whether your winter cold is turning into something more nasty.

This is where the newly designed NHS Direct website can prove really useful.

While the site is not intended to be a replacement for visiting your GP, it is a comprehensive resource for health advice and information. The new site has more topics and tools and is simple to navigate with additional features including: A mind and body magazine containing news and features on current health issues, and interactive health tools and quizzes.

A new feeling low algorithm in the self-help guide - that covers common adult and child health problems.

A new body key index as well as an A-Z index to help navigate the health encyclopedia of conditions and treatments.

Improved accessibility, including the ability to change font sizes.

With more than 1.5 million visits each month, the NHS Direct website is already popular. And the newly designed version will make it even easier for a wide range of people to use - especially older and disabled people and non-English speakers.

Visit www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk; it really is an invaluable tool for looking after yourself and your family this winter.

DR RAJ PERSAUD, Consultant Psychiatrist, Bethlem Royal and Maudsley NHS Hospitals Trust and Gresham Professor for Public Understanding of Psychiatry.