Telecommunications advances are able to support the medical profession, it has been claimed.
The internet should be viewed not as a replacement for medical practitioners but as a supplementary aspect to the doctor-patient relationship, asserts Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of GPs.
Web chat, email and other applications can help doctors communicate with patients, while information found online may enable the swift access of relevant information.
"The internet can help in communicating test results to patients, answering patient queries, sending health information and improving access for non urgent routine matters," recommends Professor Field.
However, it should be clarified to Britons that the web should not be used as a means of securing a diagnosis or purchasing drugs, he says.
Recent search from comScore found that 85 per cent of women have researched health issues online, with 63 per cent turning to the web specifically for information about birth control.
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