We all hope that mid-Summer will bring unbroken sunshine—although the weather on St. Swinthin’s Day was not too good! Whatever the weather, this can be a time for thought and reflection before everything starts again in the Autumn. This is what the editors of the website have been doing. We have been reflecting on what the site has, and has not, achieved and what changes if any, need to be made. Until a few years ago there was a Med. Chi Journal. Michael Wilson and John Farndon were amongst the distinguished editors. Its demise left a gap with no local replacement medical publication
The Med Chi website was started in October, 2002 partly as a replacement for the Journal. We identified three specific functions for the site:
1. To provide information about current medical/health matters in the Bristol area. This included a regular review of health matters contained in the Bristol Evening Post.
2. To provide a diary of forthcoming medical events such as Med Chi and University lectures.
3. To provide a forum for debate about current health-care matters eg should there be a single acute hospital in Bristol?
Since October 2002 we have published 19 monthly editions each containing 20-30 pages of material. Many different matters have been covered. These have included undergraduate medical education, community hospitals, intermediate care, the past work of the Community Health Council and many other matters. Together with the BMA we organized a meeting on the Future of Bristol HealthCare in March 2004.
This was a successful event. A summary was published on our site in April 2004. A DVD/Video of the meeting is available. We have been getting 1000-1400 visits to the site each month. This, we felt was encouraging although the editors have been disappointed at the lack of general participation . Thus, for example there was little response to our detailed, and deliberately provocative, SWOT analysis of the published plans for Bristol HealthCare. A further example was the poor response to the many questions raised at the recent joint meeting. There are other similar examples. Is it that people don’t care or is it that we are all too busy to participate?
A further careful analysis of visits to the site shows that about 60% were from the USA. The monthly total from the UK ranges between 11% and 26%. In other words we have been mistaken in our assumption that many people in Bristol have been accessing the site.
The Med Chi site remains the only forum of its type in Bristol. We fully realize that people are busy and that there are huge pressures on people’s time. Additionally, many retired people do not have access to the internet (it would not be practicable to produce a paper version of the material).
We have lots of ideas for the future. These include the greater use of e-mail and the possibility of inviting responses to specific questions from targeted individuals. For example, what is the relationship between the degree of atmospheric pollution in the City and the prevalence of childhood asthma? What might be the practical implications if it was found that certain areas are much more highly polluted than others? This could even influence decisions relating to the siting of new hospitals!
We would invite responses from various people including respiratory physicians, public health doctors, general practitioners, the City Council and others. The responses would be published on the web and comments requested. It could lead to quite an exciting and important debate!
The editors consider that the need for a debating forum does exist and that the original objectives remain valid - particularly at this time when there is so much uncertainty, but also opportunity, in Bristol. We consider that the site should be advertised widely.
It should be of interest to many healthcare professionals, not only doctors, including managers, nurses, and therapists. The medically aware public should be included. All these groups, and others, should be invited to contribute.
The Med Chi committee will be considering the future of the website in the Autumn. In the meanwhile, we would really welcome your views (janet@bristolmedchi.co.uk).
Have a good Summer!
RLH and MJW