EDITORIAL - NOVEMBER 1998
8/11/98
It is five months now since the Whinfield website was first uploaded. Despite not being listed on any of the general search engines - because we feel that the site is primarily for patients and staff of Whinfield Surgery and not for "Curious websurfer" of Los Angeles and his/her ilk - we are regularly visited now by about 15 visitors per week and last week the site was accessed right around the clock. We currently publicise our URL only on notices and leaflets in the surgery, prescription counterfoils, answerphone messages and on a listing of GP Surgeries at http://www.internet-gp.com/gpsites/gp page 19.htm. It has been quite useful, I think to have acquired the domain name "whinfield.co.uk" so making our URL very easy to memorise. Some other surgeries have quite complicated URL's which is bound to serve as a barrier to accessibility.
Why a website and why now? I regularly encounter sceptics both inside and outside the surgery and whilst many people still perceive the internet as being the domain of "anoraks" this is quite understandable. However, in the last couple of years many new PC's have been sold with internet access as standard and the browser software is now as easy to use as, if not easier than, a word processor or a computer game. Inevitably this has widened accessibility and broadened appeal. The next step, I believe, is the gradual fusion of TV and computer as the former becomes digitalised.
The primary health care team (doctors, nurses, health visitors, midwives, counsellors etc.) has always been aware of the need to communicate with our patients/clients. We are also aware that the patient's need for information and/or to be able to tell us what is needed is not always going to be served by a five or ten minute consultation. Problems arise outside surgery hours, they may be complex or they may seem trivial. Sometimes these problems may generate an innappropriate approach to the out of hours service or they may simply not be addressed at all. The internet already serves as a resource for many people but good quality information might be hard to find for all but the experienced and determined websurfer. I believe that with a recognisable URL and links to interesting and useful sites we can aid access to information on the web. We have made a start via our links pages which are tabulated under problem headings but we have a long way to go and we need your help to expand this area. We have also authored some of our own material where we think it might be useful to impart the flavour of the Whinfield approach.
The other side of the coin is what we get back from you, the user. As a user of Whinfield Surgery, assuming that is what you are, you have invaluable information and experience to share both with us and with other users, especially if you or a loved-one have an ongoing health-care need. The Whinfield website and domain can act as a forum for this both by providing a place to post public messages and contributions, (the patients' and children's sections) and as a way of channeling your views and information both to us and to specific fellow users via Email. We can even give you an additional Email address in the format: Anybody@whinfield.co.uk provided that you are a patient of Whinfield or you work at Whinfield. Any mail sent to that address will be automatically redirected so preserving the privacy of your own Email address and protect you from being pestered because we can always unlink you at your request. (If you want to avail yourself of this service then send us an Email at ADDRESSES@whinfield.co.uk including in the body of the Email your name, date of birth - for verification purposes - and areas of interest you would like to get information about and give us a pseudonym to use for you. Tell us whether you would like to hear from other users with the same area of interest. If you want to preserve your privacy then we can act as a redirection service - we will see your message and will not redirect any Email which could be interpreted as offensive). If you don't want a Whinfield address but you do want to communicate with other Whinfield users about a particular area of interest in the field of healthcare then send an Email to INTERESTS@whinfield.co.uk indicating your area of interest. We will forward on your Email to anyone else with a similar area of interest and add your name to the folder relating to that area.
Future developments? I would like to post some audio files in the Real Player format - this could include health tips given by one of the doctor's, nurses or health visitors or perhaps a discussion of a current health-care issue.
Robert Upshall - Email.