Wellington, March 9 NZPA - A website to promote information sharing and discussion among health professionals is being developed by the Health Ministry.

The website (www.hiirc.org.nz) would allow doctors, nurses and other specialists to come together online, ministry national programme manager for quality improvement and innovation Alan Spinks said.

It would have some features similar to those of popular networking sites Facebook and Bebo, and would promote discussion in public and private forums, he said.

"The key driver for this project is to facilitate learning and discussion amongst specialist groups such as doctors, nurses and quality managers by providing them a secure online platform to discuss, and share best practice and information without having to develop their own website," Mr Spinks said.

The site would also feature a "knowledge library" of New Zealand research on health centre productivity and quality and access to health care.

"There will be information on successful initiatives developed in New Zealand -- what works here, how they are implemented, and who to go to for information and assistance," he said.

The website was expected to go live in July.

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