In reality, it's not nearly that exciting. The fact is that we review the content on bbc.co.uk on an ongoing basis, making sure that it's both of a high editorial standard and as up-to-date and complete as possible. We'll often remove elements of the site which we feel do not meet these requirements, and where significant investment would be required to bring it up to scratch.

Some significant chunks of bbc.co.uk have disappeared in the past: we took down about 25% of the History site in November 2006, for example, and the Science & Nature site is half the size it used to be. With so many demands on funding in the BBC, and particularly with so many plans in the pipeline for new products on bbc.co.uk, it's simply not possible for us to continually upgrade all elements of the site.

Obviously, we're sorry if anyone’s disappointed that this part (or indeed any of the other parts) of bbc.co.uk has closed, but be assured that there's no conspiracy. The decision does not reflect any opinion or agenda by the BBC, and it certainly is not in response to any external requests. It was simply our call, made by the editorial team.

To make sure that anyone seeking the old content has access to health information, we have put up a page directing them to other sources of health-related information from the BBC and the NHS. And obviously, we'll continue to cover the issues elsewhere on television, radio and online.

Richard Williams is Creative Director, Vision Multiplatform Productions, BBC Vision