The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency  (MHRA) has set out how it plans to improve its communication with patients and the public over the next two years.

It said it will ‘open up new channels through which patients and the public can be reached’.

A spokesman for the agency told Healthcare Republic that these channels would reflect ‘need and target audience’.

‘These may include using social networking sites, blogs and text messages in future,’ he said.

The agency said that new channels could also be used to speed communication.

‘These will also help get urgent safety messages out to the right people within a time scale that is proportionate to the level of risk involved,’ it said.

tom.moberly@haymarket.com

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