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Tuesday 11th October 2005

 

Prof. John Erian Replies to “Click to Cure” Article

Sunday Express 25th September 2005

 

 

“Searching on the internet does not make us doctors”, absolutely right nor should information received or researched ever replace the face to face consultation. However patient awareness and empowerment can be very beneficial if the ‘right’ information is provided.

 

I have just completed an hour of research on the internet myself, looking up key words such as endometriosis, smear test, hysterectomy and menhorragia (heavy periods). I was shocked by the types of information that I found. However this shouldn’t surprise us considering that the internet is not regulated or monitored for quality or accuracy; in particular it would appear for medical health advice!

 

I agree with Dr Gerlis who welcomes the revolution in health education and understand the potential problems caused by patient ‘self diagnosis’. This is why I fully support the activities of information providers who are affiliated to organisations such as the Health on the Net foundation (HON). Celia Boyer (Executive Director of HON) is accurate in her analysis when she says “trustworthy information exists alongside false or misleading commercially biased material”.

 

I believe, the only way to ensure that the patient is ‘empowered’ with the right information from the internet is to use credible, reliable, validated and qualified professional experts who, provide information and expertise underpinned by years of dedicated specialist experience; all based on clinical and medical ‘best practice’ techniques. This is often referred to as Evidence Based Medicine (EBM).

 

Well informed patients as Dr Julian Eden (General Practitioner) mentions “ask the right questions, take a more proactive approach to their health and keep doctors on their toes”.

 

I understand that patients armed with the correct, evidence based, expert information are actually helping both themselves and their local doctors and consultants forge stronger doctor patient relationships.

 

Finally, like most things on the internet if we trust the service and we can be sure of safety then we will probably use it more and more as many of us do for shopping, banking and holidays.

 

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