Enquiries
About MMP’s Medical Explanations service
The problem
The solution
How much does it cost and what do I get?
What we do and don’t do
Who will answer my questions?
How does the website work?
When will I get an answer?
Who sees my question?
Who is the service designed for?
Why do I have to wait 24 hours for the answer?
What languages can I ask my questions in?
The problem
“Patients leave appointments with as many questions as they went in with!”
Despite the best efforts of NHS doctors to help patients fully understand their medical conditions and treatments. Many people still leave appointments confused and uncertain about both. This can be for many reasons:
- An intimidating experience. Any appointment with a doctor, or any health professional, can be an intimidating experience. Mostly this is because it is your health that’s being discussed.
- Time constraints. The busyness and time pressures of a clinic can affect both the way the doctor interacts with you and you with the doctor. Limiting the questions asked.
- Mind going blank? How often have you sat at home thinking of all the questions you are going to ask, but when you finally get there your mind just goes blank?
- Personalities. We all have different personalities and sometimes we meet someone we just find it difficult to connect with and therefore hold back in our interactions with them.
The solution
The Internet is an ideal resource to answer all your questions about your health. It has a wealth of medical knowledge but knowing what is relevant to you may not always be clear. But mostly it is not personal. Google, despite all its power can not give you a personal response to that burning question.
That’s why we have designed our medical explanations service. 24/7 we are here to answer your health questions.
How much does it cost and what do I get?
All enquiries cost £9.99 each. With some questions our doctors will be able to answer your enquiry fully with one answer (we do not limit how long our doctors response is, rather we leave it to their judgement).
At other times the doctor may need to ask more information from you to form a complete response; or after their initial response you may want to ask more about a certain point. In both these circumstances we put no limits on the number of messages sent between you and our doctors. We simply ask you stay to the same topic and if you wish to ask a new question you create a new enquiry. Likewise if our doctors feel the conversation has moved on to a new topic they will ask you to create a new enquiry.
What we do and don’t do
We are not here to replace seeing your doctor. Our aim is to help you understand your health conditions or treatments better. Not to tell you what’s wrong or how to treat it.
Let’s explain: You have a painful big toe. You see your GP and she tells you it is Gout. She prescribes you some tablets called colchicine and said something about stopping it when you have diarrhoea.
Our role is to answer the questions you did not get the chance to ask. Such as:
- What is gout?
- What causes gout?
- How does colchicine work?
- Why will I get diarrhoea and why stop the tablets?
- Or perhaps, how can I avoid it coming back?
In a perfect world all of these would have been explained to you by the doctor. But GPs are busy and as patients the questions don’t always come to mind when we are with the doctor.
Who will answer my questions?
All the doctors answering your questions are fully registered with the General Medical Council and working within the UK. How do we select our doctors?
- All our doctors have to demonstrate a talent in communication with a focus on lay interpretation of medical knowledge.
- One of our strengths is that our doctors will be at various stages in their training from junior doctor to general practitioner or hospital consultant. This diversity within our team provides a contrast between acquired knowledge and the ability to explain medical jargon in simple terms. Not always does the most experienced doctor offer the best medical explanation!
How does the website work?
Just ask your questions. Our service has been specially designed to be easy to use. After creating an account you will have the option to ask a question.
Topic area:
- You will be asked to assign your question to a topic area this helps us choose a suitable member of our team to answer your question.
Question title:
- Use two or three words to “name” your question; this will be used as a title for the question in correspondence. For example if you have a question about your asthma you might simply call the question “asthma”.
Your question:
- Ask your question in the box provided. The more detail you provide about your problem or question the more likely it is that our doctors will be able to answer you fully in the first instance.
When will I get an answer?
We guarantee to answer all question within 24 hours, although it will often be much sooner. If we can not meet this deadline we will let you know why and offer you a full refund.
Who sees my question?
All the information you send us is strictly confidential. Only medical members of our team will review your information when answering your question. Your question or personal information will not be seen by or sent to third parties.
Who is the service designed for?
You can only use our service if you live within the United Kingdom.
Why do I have to wait 24 hours for the answer?
Some questions may well be rather complicated and need some research by the doctor. This time is needed to bring you the best possible answer.
What languages can I ask my questions in?
At present the only language you can use is English.