NETDOCTOR

NetDoctor is the leading internet-based medical information service for the public in Europe. There are NetDoctor sites in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Spain. Each NetDoctor web site is a large resource of medical information written specifically for the public to use, and free for them to access. Funding for the sites is obtained through carefully selected advertising and sponsorship. Over a million individuals per month view the information on all of the sites.

NetDoctor started in 1997 when a group of Danish doctors got together and wrote a range of articles on medical topics for the Danish people, which they published on the internet. At that time most health information on the internet was written in the USA, and much of this did not relate to the way that medical services worked in Denmark or elsewhere in Europe. The original NetDoctor service became very popular and, along with the wave of new internet ventures in the late 1990s, NetDoctor expanded from its Danish base and set up new sites across Europe. I joined the group as UK medical director in December 1999 to help set up and run the first English language NetDoctor site.

Each NetDoctor site is built from scratch, using medical specialists drawn from across each country to help write the articles. As UK medical director I was, and still am, very much involved with the setting up of this network and with all aspects of writing and checking the information that appears on the site.

As we all know, many of the internet ventures of the late 1990s have disappeared without trace, but NetDoctor has both survived and grown stronger. The public’s need for reliable health information is of course not in doubt, but few other organisations appear to have managed to fulfil this need.

NetDoctor is a bit like the Forth Rail Bridge, in that it is never completely finished. Just as the bridge always needs to be re-painted so we always need more information on another topic, or have to update other information to keep up with medical advances. With that proviso in mind, if you have a query about some aspect of a medical condition, or want to know more about the uses and side effects of your medication, or would like to share experiences with other people in the various discussion forums, then take a look at the NetDoctor site.