The British Medical Association has issued new guidance to doctors and medical students, advising them not to accept Facebook requests from current or former patients.

According to the guidance, "Using social media: practical and ethical guidance for doctors and medical students," problems can occur if the boundaries in the doctor-patient relationship become blurred.

The BMA’s key points include:

• Doctors and medical students should consider adopting conservative privacy settings where these are available but be aware that not all information can be protected on the Web
• The ethical and legal duty to protect patient confidentiality applies equally on the Internet as to other media
• It is inappropriate to post informal, personal or derogatory comments about patients or colleagues on public Internet forums
• Doctors and medical students who post online have an ethical obligation to declare any conflicts of interest
• Defamation law can apply to any comments posted on the Web made in either a personal or professional capacity


While many doctors and medical students use social media such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs and Internet forums with no problems, they could be risking their privacy, damaging their professionalism and risking the doctor-patient relationship, says the BMA.



“Social media presents doctors and medical students with opportunities, as well as challenges," says Tony Calland, the chairman of the BMA’s Medical Ethics Committee (MEC). "The BMA guidance is important as it provides doctors with the tools to prevent potential social media pitfalls.

“Medical professionals should be wary of who could access their personal material online, how widely it could be shared and how it could be perceived by their patients and colleagues,” Calland adds. 

“Research has shown that while most doctors would not accept Facebook friend requests from patients, a minority said they would consider doing so. Yet accepting Facebook friends presents doctors with difficult ethical issues. For example doctors could be become aware of information about their patients that has not been disclosed as part of a clinical consultation."

It would also be "wholly inappropriate,” Calland warns, “for doctors to disclose information about their patients online."



Nick Deakin, a student from Bristol and a member of the BMA’s Medical Ethics Committee, believes medical students need to be conscious about the image they present on social media.



Recent guidance published by the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Medical Schools Council indicates that medical students “have certain privileges and responsibilities different from those of other students … different standards of professional behaviour are expected of them," he says.

”

We have heard that organisations are using the Web to screen applicants as part of the recruitment process," he adds. "Medical students and doctors need to be aware that any material on social media that shows candidates in a bad light could cost them a job and damage their career prospects."

Click here to learn more about the BMA’s guidance.