Can you film patients without telling them?

Well the answer is, of course a resounding no, and even more so in a number of simple scenarios and clinical situations which are covered by the new guidelines on the making of patient audio/visual recordings. So the UKs General Medical Council, are issuing new advice to doctors which comes into effect on the 9th of May 2011 for the United Kingdom. The guidance relates to the making of audio or visual recording in the UK. This updates previous guidance and intends to cover the audio and visual recording of patients, the general principles of which are of course  intended for doctors but highly relevant to doctors in training.

GMC guidance from May 2011 on audio and visual records for patients

Helpful excerpts include advice regarding materials for teaching, patients who lack capacity, radiology and endoscopic images, and covert recording of patients by doctors. They include advice such as the following on radiographs:

You may disclose or use any of the recordings listed in paragraph 10 for secondary purposes without seeking consent provided that, before use, the recordings are anonymised; for example, by the removal or coding of any identifying marks such as writing in the margins of an X-ray (see paragraph 17).

The guidance is complex, and the excerpt above can only be taken in the context of the complete document: you can read a PDF of the guidance here, or visit the web pages here.

This is of particular importance to medical students who have a blog, use Twitter and Facebook, and sometimes write reports about their day to day practices: be careful. It supplements the already heavy advice from the GMC on patient confidentiality, ethics, and both formal and informal advice from Medical Indemnity organisations such as the MPS (see their article on ‘tweeting into trouble’ here).

A contributor for Medical Educator is quoted as follows:

This is of course particularly important for students as well as doctors: there are lots of anxieties, for example for using an anonymised chest radiograph for teaching purposes, by a doctor, under the guidance is ‘definitely’ allowed, however the guidance also provides useful information for those considering making audiovisual recordings in different settings. The advice is complex, intended for practising doctors, and carefully tip-toes through what is an ethical minefield. Our advice to any student is: always follow trust and University guidelines, read the GMC guidance, and when it comes to recording any medical images, you should always have the full support and first hand documented supervision of the clinician responsible for the patient prior to considering any audio/ visual recording. In general, unless you are absolutely certain, your GP or consultant is watching you (and documenting it), and you have informed written consent from a competent patient, we suggest keep your iPhone in your pocket and out of the clinic room!

Surely this is worth some correspondence to the editor about getting an up to date perspective on what these terms mean to their readership?

Or maybe its just us with our winter hangover…

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