Reading this website may save you some heartache in the future
Reading this website may save you some heartache in the future
This website exists because social media has become a minefield for doctors and other professionals. Despite being used ubiquitously by doctors and non-doctors alike, it can be the source for many problems including complaints at a Trust or GMC level.
This website hopes to tie together guidance from regulators with practical advice on how to safely use social media to minimise your exposure to risk.
Entering social media as a doctor can be a powerful tool for education, advocacy, and connecting with patients. However, it also comes with potential pitfalls that need careful navigation. Here's some general advice:
If you already have social media accounts, it is worth considering if you should search and review previous content on them to avoid anything embarrassing or untoward being found. This could be by an employer, by a patient, or by a journalist. Sometimes we make comments or posts we see as innocuous but on reflection we see that they could be harmful, defamatory or otherwise unprofessional. It is especially important to remember that any comments reliant on context may lose that context over time as "framing posts" are removed or accounts deleted. Ultimately, anything you put into the public sphere is considered fair game, and you are responsible for your own content. Social media sites have specific pages of advice on how to search your old posts. Some are listed below. As a general rule - if in doubt, delete it.
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/help/170480839698876
Twitter - https://help.twitter.com/en/using-x/x-advanced-search
Instagram - https://help.instagram.com/1482378711987121
Occasionally doctors, or anyone else, may be the subject of a website/news article, or may have content of theirs shared online or comments made about them online. This can be an extremely stressful experience. Some practial advice would include:
1. Look after yourself. Your mental health is paramount and you should ensure you're receiving th esupport your need informally and professionally. Counselling services are often available via your trade union, Trust, medical indemnity provider, or via the NHS as a patient.
2. Consider the legality of what has happened. There are a number of ways in which someone posting your informaiton online may have fallen foul of the law. This would include things like defamation law and appropriate handling of data under the Data Protection Act. This is a complex area so formal legal advice should be saught if this is a serious consideration.
3. Engage with regulatory processes as required. I won't go into detial here but it goes without saying that any social media activity may generate an investigation from your employer or the GMC. These should be engaged with forthrightly as you would for any other issue.
4. The right to be forgotten. You may be able under the GDPR to request a webpage be removed or de-listed from Google, Bing or other internet search engines, or for the original article to be removed. This is called the right to be forgotten.There are caveats and challenges to this (for example, legitimate or public interest) but this can be a means of removing unwanted search results.
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