Is your practice website good enough?

Originally published in GP magazine .

Written for GP magazine around 2008. This is the version I submitted - the published article may have been edited.

Is your practice website good enough? I’m not sure mine is, but then what makes a good website and how do you judge? The RCGP recently stated that an “exemplary GP” has a clear and accurate website which includes information about what services the practice provides, how to access them, e.g. directly or through referral, how to access out-of-hours care, how to make an appointment and what the opening times are.

It also states that you should avoid comparing yourselves with others, and that an unacceptable GP would have a website that is self-promoting. Now frankly, and this may shock, but I don’t agree with this, and I am not sure that many of the practices faced with losing patients to a Darzi centre will either.

Unlike most businesses, having a website isn’t yet an essential item, but it is becoming one. Advertising yourself and promoting your quality are becoming important in a changing primary care market. Patients no longer have to register with a GP to get health care; as well as attending A&E they have walk-in centres, Darzi centres and even supermarket-run clinics. The current GP contract means list size is the most important determinant of your income after hitting targets. Without income you can’t look after all those deprived elderly who need rather than want your care.

While poaching patients off your neighbours may still be frowned upon, recruiting patients new to your area to your list and getting the unregistered walking well to join should be high on your business plan, as well as keeping your existing patients happy and well informed of your excellent services with a view to stopping them moving across the road.

With all this in mind it might be worth asking yourselves some of the following questions about your website, some of which are meant to be controversial.

Have you asked your patients what they think of the website? Which bits are good? Which are bad? What problems have they had? What new features would they like?

Pretend you are a patient with a problem and ask yourself: can you work out what to do from your website? For example, how do I get hold of emergency contraception or conjunctivitis treatment? What if I want to discuss a termination - who is best to go to, and who will just pass me on to another, wasting my time in an embarrassing consultation?

Does it signpost to other relevant NHS services? How to find a dentist or make an appointment at the GUM clinic? Family planning? Stop smoking services etc?

Does it tell parents they can give paracetamol and ibuprofen to their child before ringing for an appointment?

Does it link to other relevant local and national sites, with information and advice on when to use them, e.g. physiotherapists, osteopaths, acupuncturists, counsellors, charities and help groups, social services etc? It might reduce the need for patients to contact your reception or make an appointment.

Does the information appear up to date, and is it viewable on a mobile device or PDA, and does it work from all browsers? Not everyone will be sat at home using Internet Explorer.

Think about what information medical students or junior doctors choosing a placement, and staff thinking of applying for a job, will need.

Do you come up top in Google? If you type Sandbach GP you get my practice; however, my wife’s practice in Nantwich doesn’t appear on the first page. How are new residents to the town going to find them? She is in a brand new building with two other practices; what information are patients going to use to choose between them when registering, other than how friendly the receptionists are, which may or may not be a good marker of quality.

Are you willing to put your drugs formulary or prescribing performance on show, with explanation for laymen? What about your access survey or QOF points? What about any audits you do - are you willing to publish them? If not, why not? Hospitals, and surgeons in particular, are becoming much more open about results; why should we hide behind secrecy?

Do you air your opinions on your website? When there is a Daily Mail health scare, do you put your reaction on your website? Do your patients know what you think of glucosamine or HRT or rosiglitazone? Think about a practice blog commenting on every health story.

With the ever increasing importance of health prevention, do your patients know how often they should come for a health check and how to book one?

Think about having practice-branded diet sheets, exercise leaflets and self-help instructions to download. If you get people using your site a lot you will attract advertising revenue to help fund it.

Is it easy to update, and can you delegate this to your staff?

And finally, have you given enough priority to getting your website right, or is it always the last thing you do? I know it is mine.