Embed Patient.info Content

Many organisations want to help people find reliable health information, but publishing or maintaining clinical content requires expertise, governance, and ongoing review. Medical guidance changes regularly, and static copies of health information can quickly become outdated. This plugin provides a simple and responsible alternative: your website acts as a structured gateway to trusted Patient.info resources.

Instead of embedding or duplicating articles, the plugin renders organised, navigable listings of Patient.info health topics. Visitors browse categories on your site and click through to read the full content on Patient.info, where it is written, reviewed, and maintained by qualified medical professionals.

This ensures visitors always access the most up-to-date medical information while preserving clear attribution and avoiding duplicate content. It also supports good publishing practice by directing readers to the original, authoritative source of health material.

Key features

• Structured health resource listings - display navigable grids or lists of Patient.info health topics, grouped by section

• Direct linking to trusted content - visitors click through to the original Patient.info article for the full, clinically maintained text

• Always up to date - all content is fetched live from the Patient.info API and cached; updates and revisions happen automatically

• Responsible content use - avoids duplication, outdated information, and local hosting of clinical material

• Three dedicated content sections - Patient Information Leaflets (PILs), Medicines A–Z, and Editorial Features, each with its own block and shortcode

• Four display styles - Cards, List, Compact, and Featured, selectable per block or shortcode

• Flexible placement - insert into pages, posts, or widgets using Gutenberg blocks or shortcodes

• Admin settings page - configure default style, attribution visibility, and cache duration from Settings → PCO Health Content

• Lightweight performance - topic data is cached via WordPress transients; no tracking, no external scripts on the frontend beyond what WordPress already loads.

1. Upload the pco-health-content folder to /wp-content/plugins/, or install via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin

2. Activate the plugin via Plugins → Installed Plugins

3. Visit Settings → PCO Health Content to configure defaults

4. Insert a block or shortcode on any page or post

Does this plugin display full Patient.info articles?

No. The plugin displays navigable listings of health topic categories. Visitors click through to read the full article on Patient.info, where it is hosted and maintained.

Does the content stay up to date?

Yes. Category and topic data is fetched from the Patient.info API and cached for a configurable period. Because the full articles remain on Patient.info, users always see the latest clinically reviewed version when they visit the source.

Is any medical content stored on my site?

No. The plugin caches lightweight topic listing data (titles, thumbnails, category structure) to avoid unnecessary API calls. No clinical article text is stored on your server.

Is this suitable for healthcare organisations?

Yes. The plugin is specifically designed for organisations that want to guide users to trusted health information without hosting or maintaining clinical content themselves.

Does linking to Patient.info affect SEO?

Linking to authoritative external sources is standard web practice and does not penalise your site. Because no article text is duplicated, there is no duplicate content concern. The structured navigation aids user experience and crawlability.

How do I change the default display style?

Go to Settings → PCO Health Content and select your preferred default. Individual shortcodes and blocks can still override the default using the style="" attribute or the block sidebar controls.

Can I clear the cache manually?

Yes. A “Clear All Cached Data Now” button is available on the Settings → PCO Health Content page.