London:
There is a new kind of Doctor's Room where doctors don't see their patients face to face. They treat them online, often without ever having met them.
A virtual knock on the doctor's door.
So who are the patients who 'visit' these virtual doctors?
A patient who is going to Afghanistan, wants malaria pills. After a series of questions, the doctor agrees to prescribe the pills, issues advice on how to take them, and then presses the 'prescribe' button, sending the order to an approved chemist.
"Job done", says Dr Thom van Every, founder of one of London's busiest online practices, simply called Doctor Thom.
Dr. Thom Van Every says, "The current structure of care in the UK and in many parts of the world is that the patient has to take time off work, struggle to get an appointment, see the doctor when it's convenient for the doctor, and basically it's a process that is suited to the medical provider's needs, rather then the patient's needs. In online care, it's very much shifted to co-management of patients with patients being able to get the care that they know they need, and that we know they need in a way that is fundamentally convenient."
Online doctors say their service is particularly suitable for people who are too busy or too embarrassed to see their own doctor face to face.
And they point out that like all doctors, those working online have to be registered and regulated by the authorities. Dr Thom's turns away more than 10 per cent of patients, telling them to see their own doctor in person.
But mainstream medics aren't convinced.
Dr Richard Vautrey of the British Medical Association says that while there are many reputable online practitioners, online medicine could put patients at risk.
Dr. Richard Vautrey says, "There are many sites that are disreputable, or providing a particular level of information that we would regard as potentially dangerous and patients need to fully understand where they're accessing information from. But then there's also a concern about how doctors can be certain who they are providing advice to. Do they know the person they are providing advice to? Can they be absolutely certain that the condition the person describes on email, or on the internet is accurate. Would they risk missing important, vital signs that they would normally have picked up during a normal face to face consultation."
So what do patients themselves think?
Lisa Hurley, a patient says, "I would use an online doctor if I had a question of symptoms that I didn't want to bother my real life doctor with."
Another patient, Dennis Myerhill says, "If you'd be able to go online to your own doctor, one you know, I mean. If it was someone who you didn't know, I wouldn't want to do it, no."
In most of Europe and the United States doctors can only treat patients if they've previously seen them in person - putting Britain at the forefront of a trend that may become more widespread as the cost of medical provision continues to grow.
A virtual knock on the doctor's door.
So who are the patients who 'visit' these virtual doctors?
A patient who is going to Afghanistan, wants malaria pills. After a series of questions, the doctor agrees to prescribe the pills, issues advice on how to take them, and then presses the 'prescribe' button, sending the order to an approved chemist.
"Job done", says Dr Thom van Every, founder of one of London's busiest online practices, simply called Doctor Thom.
Dr. Thom Van Every says, "The current structure of care in the UK and in many parts of the world is that the patient has to take time off work, struggle to get an appointment, see the doctor when it's convenient for the doctor, and basically it's a process that is suited to the medical provider's needs, rather then the patient's needs. In online care, it's very much shifted to co-management of patients with patients being able to get the care that they know they need, and that we know they need in a way that is fundamentally convenient."
Online doctors say their service is particularly suitable for people who are too busy or too embarrassed to see their own doctor face to face.
And they point out that like all doctors, those working online have to be registered and regulated by the authorities. Dr Thom's turns away more than 10 per cent of patients, telling them to see their own doctor in person.
But mainstream medics aren't convinced.
Dr Richard Vautrey of the British Medical Association says that while there are many reputable online practitioners, online medicine could put patients at risk.
Dr. Richard Vautrey says, "There are many sites that are disreputable, or providing a particular level of information that we would regard as potentially dangerous and patients need to fully understand where they're accessing information from. But then there's also a concern about how doctors can be certain who they are providing advice to. Do they know the person they are providing advice to? Can they be absolutely certain that the condition the person describes on email, or on the internet is accurate. Would they risk missing important, vital signs that they would normally have picked up during a normal face to face consultation."
So what do patients themselves think?
Lisa Hurley, a patient says, "I would use an online doctor if I had a question of symptoms that I didn't want to bother my real life doctor with."
Another patient, Dennis Myerhill says, "If you'd be able to go online to your own doctor, one you know, I mean. If it was someone who you didn't know, I wouldn't want to do it, no."
In most of Europe and the United States doctors can only treat patients if they've previously seen them in person - putting Britain at the forefront of a trend that may become more widespread as the cost of medical provision continues to grow.
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