Are you a GP? We know there are loads of you out there...

[RowanMumsnet]

We at MNHQ have been talking to the Royal College of GPs, and they thought it might be useful for GPs to know a bit more about Mumsnet.

As part of that, we're putting together some information for GPs about what Mumsnet is, what it's not, and how they or their patients might find it useful.

If you're a GP yourself, we'd love to know how you would you sum up Mumsnet in a sentence - or a paragraph - for a GP colleague who didn't know much about it. Has Mumsnet ever been useful for you in your professional life, and could there be other ways you think other GPs might find it useful? Are there any misconceptions about MN we could clear up?

And anything else that occurs to you!

Thanks v much

MNHQ

I'm not a GP but a community midwife. I do tend to recommend MN to women, usually at the booking appointment when giving them the pregnancy book and the evil bounty pack.

I usually say something like "parenting websites, such as MN can be a really useful source of information and fantastic support. I wish I had known about MN when I was pregnant"

Another doctor but not a GP. I love mumsnet and think the support on relationships is amazing, as well as just being a site full of mums who can tell you what normal is. It also gives me a great perpective of lay understanding of medical issues.

However I don't think I would recommend the health pages. It's noticeable on the legal pages that if a lawyer posts, everyone will thank them for their advice and leave it at that. However health is different, doctors are bound by the guidance of the GMC on social media as well, and I don't think it works well as a source of accurate health advice - relationships has a warning at the top but it's health that really needs it. I know lots of doctors on mumsnet who simply never go on the health pages at all which is a huge shame. It's really noticeable there are no doctors on that page. So someone posts asking for advice, somebody recommends something really alternative or non-mainstream when there are good mainstream options available and there is no medical voice for balance. It's also the nature of the internet that lots of people will post about something they had problems with but less will post about something that worked really well. 'I rang my surgery and got an appointment straight away' is a really dull post for example.

So I'd have mixed feelings about recommending it - for fun yes, but health advice no.

Ooh what a useful name change I had lurking in my history! I am a GP. I do occasionally point people in this direction - most often to breast and bottle feeding, also have one patient who I directed to the bereaved mothers thread.

Mumsnet has "a reputation" on a well-used drs forum but there are lots of us who post on both. I think when posters from there have come here (threads get linked) they are usually fairly surprised by what they find.

I too find it interesting to see the reactions from "the other side" when people post about their experiences with GPs.
TBH I tend to recommend the site as a mum rather then a Dr (and will say this to patients when I tell them about it). I don't really think GPs that don't know about this lovely nest of vipers will much care about any missive that gets sent as we get so much guff landing across our desks all the time.

Not a GP,but to be honest I would be wary of reccomending anyone to this site for health issues. Yes there is some great advice and support,but there are also those who spout rubbish very authoritavely and to the layperson it is not obvious who is presenting opinion and who is presenting fact,who us actually a HCP and who just wants to be one.

If I were an professional I would be very wary about recommending any site where there is no way of knowing what a person will be told/ what they will believe.

If Mumsnet wants GPs to reccomend this site they need to have paid medical professionals moderating and commenting on the relevant boards, that are identified as such.

OK, I meant to say what ItsAllGoingToBeFine has said but she has said it much better than me.

I am not a GP either but recommend MN all the time at work; work in family support and deal with families every day; not sure any have joined, mind, but they all know about it (I even hid the NM flyers haha)

Personally I love mumsnet but as a Dr I am horrified that other doctors would direct patients to mumsnet where there is so much unmoderated, incorrect and dangerous advice being bandied about.

As others have said there are lots of people spouting alternative and wacky treatments which are at best a waste of money and at worst dangerous. As you see from this thread Doctors are very reluctant to post advice and effectively can't give advice on an internet forum without breaking with GMC guidance. Even with 'vetted' GPs there is a danger that lurkers (ie not the OP) will assume the same advice applies to them which is potentially dangerous.

I personally know someone who took advice from a forum and 'treated' her son with homeopathy and cranial osteopathy up to the point where he almost died (he had leukaemia)

Not a GP, but ex-nurse here. I came onto MN for a specific support thread when DD3 had been diagnosed with a serious, disabling illness. The support I got from the other few mums with children suffering the same kept me sane. Everywhere else I had looked seemed to have such a negative, depressive feel and I just wanted to be more positive - hence the NN. We all supported each other and shared the good and the bad and also discussed the medical advice we had received, but all out DCs were individual and some treatments that helped for one would not for another.
I would say that MN was absolutely brilliant for mum-to-mum support.

I think if it were known that there were paid medical professionals on the site they would be absolutely inundated with questions. People would see it as an alternative to going to their own GP which it wouldn't be.

Tbh I think this is not a great idea. I went to see my GP about a MH issue. Had he said try mumsnet I would have heard 'you saddo, no real life support for you, go and chat to other weirdos on the internet.'
Now, that's not accurate, or how mumsnet is but that is what I would have interpreted. and if id tried and then come in from a load of abuse from the AIBU regulars (saw one today with the op being told she was a bitch / a vile bully etc) I would have probably found myself in even deeper MH trouble.

Good points there Nerf.

Hospital doctor rather than GP, great post by kundry - the advice on the various Health boards here is poor. The GMC rightly limits what most of us are prepared to do about it.

For social issues, yes, the support is very valuable, but health, no.

I don't think MN is suggesting that GPs point patients toward MN for medical advice (as they would be delivering that themselves) but for the peer-to-peer support?

It is worth noting that the general consensus is that medical advice on here isn't reliable but there are so many other things that you could visit a GP for which peer support on MN would be good for eg PND, sleep, SN etc..

Not A GP but a palliative care nurse. I have pointed people towards this and other social media if it might help them.
Mumsnetters can be very good sources of support and hand holding.

The problem is, if you as a professional/GP tell someone to visit a certain site for support you are reccomending the site and if they meet one of the many loons on Mumsnet and follow some shockingly bad advice you are partially responsible.

I think MrsMargoLeadbetter has a pretty good summary of what we thought might be useful. Not that Mumsnet would offer professional health advice (instead of or even alongside your GP), more that there may be issue which you discuss with your GP (like PND, sleep, miscarriage, children's health) where you might also receive support from, or share experiences with, other Mumsnet users. We know many people already to do this, so it might be worth us clarifying with GPs.

Also interesting point WaitingForPeterWimsey that GPs have long been direction people to patient to patient support groups, I think a good comparison.

I cannot say whether I'm a GP, or a doctor, or not, as then I would have to identify myself by name, which I am not willing to do.

Therefore, I do not identify myself as a doctor, and I suspect many others will do the same, thanks to the restrictive rules.

I am a GP and don't mind others knowing it. Happy to PM people my GMC reg if asked. I mostly lurk, occasionally post.

I have recommended 'Internet forums such as MN or NM' to patients who I think may benefit, partic new parents, for peer support. I say it can be a source of support in the middle of the night or if feeling isolated/ in despair and to get advice on feeding/sleeping/behaviour etc. I tell patients that i have personally appreciated online support in such circumstances.

I think the guidance is quite explicit, if you mention you're a doctor in your post, you must identify yourself by name. If I were a doctor, I would never be daring enough to out myself as such, thanks to those rules.

Rowan not a GP here but I wrote a report for a previous employer about support for new mums which was then circulated and distributed and is available free online, if you like I could pm the link (if I can find it), MN was one of the online resources I mentioned in it.

Not sure if that's a bit off topic for you or not.

I am not a GP but I am concerned about what GP's don't tell patients about CJD/vCJD, this is a rare comment posted by one concerned GP in the Daily Mail, I wish more GP's and consultants would be so open about the risks of infectious prions:

"sue6pearson, Hitchin, United Kingdom, 2 months ago
The most shocking thing is that the current technology being used to detect proteins after surgical instruments have been washed does not detect infective levels of prions. This means patients are being put at risk if they have surgery. Over 50 patients have been contacted in Wales and Ireland post surgery in the past year to say they could have vCJD as the instruments used on them were contaminated. The Department of Health needs to implement new standards in Sterile Services Departments so that surgical instruments are properly decontaminated and tested as this risk is real. Dr Sue Pearson, Hitchin, Herts"

And that ^^ is why, were I a doctor, I would avoid crazy health threads, and why I would be very wary of recommending this to patients. If they find it by chance, then grand, it's like any other mixed group. But I'd hate to lend weight to any Daily Mail informed opinions by recommending a site.

I applaud Dr.Sue Pearson for her honest opinion, pity it had to be expressed in the Daily Mail and not on Mumsnet as she speaks the truth.

GP's are no doubt aware that there are NHS patient leaflets available regarding the risks of vCJD via blood and plasma products, this surely has to be a good thing and promoted in surgeries like other known diseases are in leaflet format.