Whither Medi Bloggers? Try Here..

Since NHS Blog Doctor retired two weeks ago, there has been a discussion as to where medi bloggers go next and whether it's worth it. There have been discussions as to how many of us there are, and how we make the government sit up and pay attention.

My own reaction to Dr Crippen's retiral was one of guilt. He was the one you could always rely on to post every day, to give informed comment and splendid vitriol that didn't just go near the bone, but sawed right through it. And we sat back and let him get on with it. If we didn't blog, we knew he would. And he would say it far better than any of us. His retiral is like the sudden death of a healthy rumbustious uncle; the one that drinks and smokes and makes the riske jokes and always has the word 'dreadful' attached to his name by prudish aunties. It feels like the day you wake up and all the heat has gone out of the summer.

We all need to try harder now and I have started a new blog in response to some of the questions getting raised. I've been thinking about it for a while and it's based on a model used by other groups on the web. I've called it Mediblog UK and you can find it here.

It's a fairly simple set up. You send me links to medi blogs that you like, and I put them on this site, together with a blog feed. It means we can see at a glance how many sites are active. As soon as you post you go to the top of the blog feed. This way people will become aware of blogs they normally wouldn't know about or read. It means info gets round more quickly and it also means that if several people blog on the same subject, you can get a variety of angles.

I'm going to work on this for the next wee while and refine it. In the meantime, if you want on this, or know a blog that should be here, send it to me and it will be added. It's time to gird our loins and stick together...