One of the most difficult aspects of being the editors of a publication like MedicinesTalk is not being able to ask you — our readers — the myriad of questions that run through our minds as we plan and write each issue. For example, ‘Is the topic relevant?’, ‘Is the article interesting and easy to understand?’, and so on.

Feedback surveys are valuable, because they give editors like us the opportunity to ask these sorts of questions and find out what we’re getting right and what we need to improve. Earlier this year, a feedback survey was distributed with the autumn issue of MedicinesTalk. Over 430 organisations and individuals completed and returned their questionnaires.

Overall, the feedback was very favourable.

Four-fifths (82%) of readers said they read or looked at every issue, and two-thirds (67%) said they spent more than 10 minutes reading each issue. Between 80 and 90% of readers agreed that:

• MedicinesTalk is easy to read
• I can understand the information
• articles are up to date
• MedicinesTalk is a good source of information about medicines issues
• articles are interesting
• articles are generally at the right level for me.

Organisations said they use MedicinesTalk in several ways, including:

• read by staff (42%)
• use the information in their group’s discussions, seminars and meetings (32%)
• include articles in their newsletters (32%).

Readers said their preferred topics were:

• interactions between medicines, side effects and adverse reactions (81%)
• information about particular types of medicines (73%)
• practical tips about using medicines (69%).

Nearly 40% of readers suggested topics they would like to see included in future editions. Most requests were for articles about a specific condition and its treatment. We will endeavour to meet some of these requests by producing occasional articles on the medicines used for some of the more common conditions, such as diabetes and chronic pain.

Your feedback has been extremely helpful in telling us that you read and value MedicinesTalk. At our recent planning meeting, we took account of your suggestions when we chose the topics for next year, and considered how we might improve the appearance of the newsletter.

Our sincere thanks go to everyone who took the time to complete the feedback survey.