Guidance on the use of social media

Our guidance on social media

• Challenge discrimination

  The standards of conduct, performance and ethics say:

  1.6: You must take action to ensure that your personal values, biases and beliefs do not lead you to discriminate against service users, carers or colleagues. Your personal values, biases and beliefs must not detrimentally impact the care, treatment or other services that you provide. 

  Your services must be available to all service users and/or their carers. When you share content on social media you must do so in a way that does not hinder people’s access to your services. This means that you should be aware of the impact that your personal views, biases and beliefs may have on people’s access to your services.

  This applies whether you are using a personal or professional social media account.

   

• Maintain appropriate boundaries

  The standards of conduct, performance and ethics say:

  1.9 You must take action to set and maintain appropriate professional boundaries with service users and/or carers and colleagues.
  
  1.10 You must use appropriate methods of communication to provide care and other services related to your practice.
  
  1.11 You must ensure that existing personal relationships do not impact professional decisions. 
  
  1.12 You must not abuse your position as a health and care practitioner to pursue personal, sexual, emotional or financial relationships with service users and/or carers or colleagues.

  Social media can blur the boundaries between your personal and professional life. It is just as important to maintain appropriate professional boundaries when using social media as it would be if you were communicating by any other method. You must always communicate with service users in a professional way. You might decide to set up a separate professional account where you provide general information for service users and the public. If you are employed and plan to use this account to have direct contact with service users, you should first agree with your employer whether this is appropriate. 

  Keep in mind that service users may still be able to find and contact you through your personal account. If this happens, we recommend that you refuse friend requests. If appropriate, say that you cannot mix social and professional relationships. If you want to follow up any contact you receive, consider using a professional communication channel, such as your professional email account. 

  If you include content relating to your professional role on a personal account or vice versa, think about the impact of the content that you will share on these different audiences when they see the material you post. Think carefully about what you share and who can see it. 

  Bear in mind the personal material you intend to share only with friends or family on a personal account could be accessible to a much wider audience, and once uploaded, it may not be possible to delete it or control how widely it is shared.

• Communicate appropriately

  The standards of conduct, performance and ethics say:

  2.10 You must use media-sharing networks and social networking sites responsibly. 

  When using social media, you should apply the same standards as you would when communicating in other ways. You must always be polite and respectful to others when communicating in a professional capacity.
  
  

  2.11 You must make reasonable checks to ensure information is accurate, true, does not mislead the public and is in line with your duty to promote public health when sharing information on media sharing networks and social networking sites.  

  When using social media, think about the accuracy and truth of the content that you share or circulate. Check that the information originates from people and/or organisations that are trustworthy. When engaging in online debate, ensure that your views are evidenced based, and that they are accurate to the best of your knowledge. Correct yourself if you have shared false, inaccurate, or misleading information.  
  
  

  2.12 You must use media sharing networks and social networking sites appropriately and responsibly, maintaining professional boundaries at all times and protecting service user/carer privacy. 

  You must also be careful that the information you share on social media does not reveal personal information about service users and/or their carers. Use your professional judgement in deciding whether to post or share something. Remember that comments or posts may be taken out of context or made visible to a wider audience than originally intended.

• Respect confidentiality

  The standards of conduct, performance and ethics say:

  5.1 You must treat information about service users as confidential. 

  When you post information about another person on social media, think about whether it is appropriate to share that information. If the information could allow a service user to be identified, you must not put it on a site without their permission. This information could include details about their personal life, health or circumstances, or images relating to their care. This applies whether you are sharing information to your personal connections or to the public.

• Be honest and trustworthy

  The standards of conduct, performance and ethics say:

  9.1 You must make sure that your conduct justifies the public’s trust and confidence in you and your profession.

  This means you need to think carefully about what you share online. Throughout your use of social media make sure that what you share does not bring your professional practice or your profession into disrepute. When using either a professional or personal account, your conduct should continue to respect service users, their carers and/or your colleagues and maintain fair access to services for all.  

  9.3 You must make take reasonable steps to make sure that any promotional activities you are involved in are accurate and are not likely to mislead. 

  If you use social media to advertise or share information related to your professional practice, you must make sure it is accurate and true, by making reasonable checks to verify it. You may choose to include a disclaimer on your profile that your views are your own, and that they do not represent the views of your employer or anyone who contracts your services.