{"id":51162,"date":"2021-10-19T16:42:05","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T15:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=51162"},"modified":"2021-10-26T11:23:21","modified_gmt":"2021-10-26T10:23:21","slug":"practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Practising medicine in the virtual world\u2014continuity of care is even more important"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If the covid-19 pandemic has taught us all one thing, it is the value of human relationships. More than ever before, doctors, nurses, and all allied healthcare professionals are working virtually via telephone and video consultations, changing the way that we relate to our patients. Guidelines have sprung up telling us how to do this better, but something fundamental is missing: continuity of care. [1]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The importance of continuity of care has been amplified for me during the pandemic, both as a patient with type 1 diabetes for 35 years, and as a paediatric diabetologist. As a patient, I don\u2019t want to have to repeat my story every time I see a new doctor, especially the difficult things that need discussing. As a doctor, how do I learn whether the advice I gave was correct, and how do I find out what my patient really wants from me, or when to gently nudge them in a different direction or provide reassurance? Knowledge of the patient allows me to be a better doctor, to give an individual approach, rather than responding to a blood glucose value.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Plenty of evidence exists about the benefits of continuity of care across many health conditions and ages. It improves satisfaction, reduces unnecessary referrals, and lowers mortality. [2,3]\u00a0 Continuity will matter more to some patients (and doctors) and more in certain conditions, than others. Some will sacrifice continuity if it means a long wait. Others who find the relationship therapeutic as much as the medicine, will rank continuity more highly. Managing and understanding that must be central to the discussion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A snapshot online survey of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">80 paediatric diabetes consultants in the UK, collected for a debate on continuity of care, during the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/proggendev.bioscientifica.com\/BSPEDDIABETESPRO2019\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">British Society of Paediatric Endocrinology annual conference<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, identified that only 47% of consultants are able to practise continuity of care, despite the acknowledgement\u00a0that it was important for their\u00a0continued professional development and\u00a0job satisfaction, and for their patients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">So if continuity is known to be beneficial, why is it not practised more often? One barrier is infrastructure and training: how do junior doctors get experience without moving to different specialties and clinics? If consultants need to be elsewhere, like a ward round or on holiday, should the clinic be cancelled? All this needs to be worked out and there isn&#8217;t a one-size-fits-all solution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many healthcare professionals have had to set up virtual clinics overnight. This drive towards innovation is a good thing: it has cut bureaucratic processes, can save money for the health system, and save time for the patient. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As we hopefully start to emerge from the pandemic, the NHS and other healthcare systems will need to redefine how we function. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Virtual working will be on the table,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> but before setting it up indiscriminately, we need to pause, and consider how it can best be used.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The patient should remain at the centre, and be offered choice, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">to maintain and improve patient satisfaction and outcomes. Patient continuity, especially for chronic conditions, should not be unwittingly sacrificed: forming a healthy attachment between doctor and patient is at the core of how we relate and trust.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If the pandemic has taught us about the importance of human relationships, it has also taught us that if there is enough will, a solution can be found.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><b>Rachel Besser <\/b><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>is a consultant paediatric diabetologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and author of Diabetes Through the Looking Glass \u2013 seeing diabetes from your child\u2019s perspective<\/em>. <\/span>@BesserBesser<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Competing interests<\/strong>: none declared<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><b>References:<\/b><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Car J, Choon G,\u00a0 Koh H, Foong PS, Wang CJ. Video consultations in primary and specialist care during the covid-19 pandemic and beyond\u00a0 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">BMJ<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 2020; 20;371:m3945.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pereira Gray DJ, Sidaway-Lee K, White E, Thorne A, Evans PH. Continuity of care with doctors\u2014a matter of life and death? A systematic review of continuity of care and mortality. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">BMJ Open<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 2018;8:e021161.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Helen Salisbury H: Measuring continuity of care BMJ <i style=\"font-size: 1rem\">2019<\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">;3;367:l6567. doi: 10.1136\/bmj.l6567.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If the covid-19 pandemic has taught us all one thing, it is the value of human relationships. More than ever before, doctors, nurses, and all allied healthcare professionals are working [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":48626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18881,236],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-archive","category-nhs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Practising medicine in the virtual world\u2014continuity of care is even more important - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Practising medicine in the virtual world\u2014continuity of care is even more important - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If the covid-19 pandemic has taught us all one thing, it is the value of human relationships. More than ever before, doctors, nurses, and all allied healthcare professionals are working [...]More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-19T15:42:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-26T10:23:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/09\/doctor_online_consultation.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"julietwalker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"julietwalker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"julietwalker\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/373707d32533c2cbca204980b8cd3493\"},\"headline\":\"Practising medicine in the virtual world\u2014continuity of care is even more important\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-19T15:42:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-26T10:23:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":666,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/doctor_online_consultation.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"From the archive\",\"NHS\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/\",\"name\":\"Practising medicine in the virtual world\u2014continuity of care is even more important - The BMJ\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/doctor_online_consultation.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-19T15:42:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-26T10:23:21+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/doctor_online_consultation.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/doctor_online_consultation.jpg\",\"width\":540,\"height\":350,\"caption\":\"Over the shoulder shot of a patient talking to a doctor using of a digital tablet\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/19\\\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Practising medicine in the virtual world\u2014continuity of care is even more important\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"description\":\"Helping doctors make better decisions.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"width\":852,\"height\":568,\"caption\":\"The BMJ\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/bmjdotcom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/bmj_latest\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/373707d32533c2cbca204980b8cd3493\",\"name\":\"julietwalker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/34f10b717c81464cc7a2879c84cd30078f63b5a901e12905a02abd9d1ea9ec90?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/34f10b717c81464cc7a2879c84cd30078f63b5a901e12905a02abd9d1ea9ec90?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/34f10b717c81464cc7a2879c84cd30078f63b5a901e12905a02abd9d1ea9ec90?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"julietwalker\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/author\\\/julietwalker\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Practising medicine in the virtual world\u2014continuity of care is even more important - The BMJ","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Practising medicine in the virtual world\u2014continuity of care is even more important - The BMJ","og_description":"If the covid-19 pandemic has taught us all one thing, it is the value of human relationships. More than ever before, doctors, nurses, and all allied healthcare professionals are working [...]More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/","og_site_name":"The BMJ","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","article_published_time":"2021-10-19T15:42:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-26T10:23:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":540,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/09\/doctor_online_consultation.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"julietwalker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bmj_latest","twitter_site":"@bmj_latest","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"julietwalker","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/"},"author":{"name":"julietwalker","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/373707d32533c2cbca204980b8cd3493"},"headline":"Practising medicine in the virtual world\u2014continuity of care is even more important","datePublished":"2021-10-19T15:42:05+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-26T10:23:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/"},"wordCount":666,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/09\/doctor_online_consultation.jpg","articleSection":["From the archive","NHS"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/","name":"Practising medicine in the virtual world\u2014continuity of care is even more important - The BMJ","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/09\/doctor_online_consultation.jpg","datePublished":"2021-10-19T15:42:05+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-26T10:23:21+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/09\/doctor_online_consultation.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/09\/doctor_online_consultation.jpg","width":540,"height":350,"caption":"Over the shoulder shot of a patient talking to a doctor using of a digital tablet"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/10\/19\/practising-medicine-in-the-virtual-world-continuity-of-care-is-even-more-important\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Practising medicine in the virtual world\u2014continuity of care is even more important"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","name":"The BMJ","description":"Helping doctors make better decisions.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization","name":"The BMJ","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","width":852,"height":568,"caption":"The BMJ"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/bmj_latest"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/373707d32533c2cbca204980b8cd3493","name":"julietwalker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34f10b717c81464cc7a2879c84cd30078f63b5a901e12905a02abd9d1ea9ec90?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34f10b717c81464cc7a2879c84cd30078f63b5a901e12905a02abd9d1ea9ec90?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34f10b717c81464cc7a2879c84cd30078f63b5a901e12905a02abd9d1ea9ec90?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"julietwalker"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/author\/julietwalker\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}