20.03.13
RCGP publishes social media ‘Highway Code’
New guidance has been published to help doctors and health professionals navigate the world of social media. The Royal College of GPs had produced the Social Media Highway Code, with advice to help and encourage health professionals to communicate effectively using social media.
The support is built around ten guidelines, which include recognising that the personal and the professional can’t always be separated, the need to engage with the public and show your human side, but maintain professional boundaries and respect the privacy of patients.
The guide was published in draft form last October, in collaboration with Doctors.net.uk and Lime Green Media. It has since been updated to include suggestions and information from a range of health expertise around the world.
Dr Ben Riley, lead-author of the Code and Curriculum Director for the RCGP said: “The interest and feedback we have received from healthcare professionals across the globe has been fantastic. There are many opportunities for GPs and other healthcare professionals to take the lead in developing how social media can be used to improve healthcare.
“At the same time healthcare professionals need to protect their patients and support each other with using these new ways of communicating. The Code has a practical focus and addresses a number of the challenging areas that GPs and other healthcare professionals have been asking about for some time.”
Dr Clare Gerada, chair of the RCGP, said: “We were the first Medical Royal College to have an active patient group, the first to trend in the UK on Twitter, and now we are the first to produce positive, practical guidance on social media usage in order to protect the interests of both patients and healthcare professionals.”
Harvey Ward, chair of the RCGP Patient Partnership Group said: “Using the Code’s advice, social media offers great potential benefits to all patients and hard to reach groups by, for example, improving access to information about healthcare services. Additionally, the Code is a wonderful step in the right direction for heightening patient safety online, where some patients can be vulnerable.”
Dr James Quekett from Doctors.net.uk said: “The Code is about helping individuals navigate social media and attempts to highlight where doctors need to exercise caution based on past experience. It is not about imposing rules on their online behaviour.”
The RCGP is leading a lunchtime debate on the impact of social media this Friday (22 March) on Twitter. Follow #RCGPSoMe for more.
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