Media guidelines for patients and visitors

As per the Data Protection Act 2018, we ask all members of the public to not film/ photograph any of our staff without their permission, and to not share footage/ photos recorded on our premises/ of our staff without contacting our Communications Team (communications@swft.nhs.uk) first for permission.

The broadcast of live footage, via platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok or FaceTime is explicitly banned, unless formal approval has been obtained in advance by everyone who may appear in the broadcast. This may require authorisation from a senior member of staff so should you wish to undertake any live filming  during your appointment or procedure you should contact your care team in advance. We will not unreasonably withhold permission, but reserve the right to impose stipulations on such activity in order to protect privacy, ensure that all care can be provided safely and that infection prevention and control measures are adhered to. If such permission is granted we reserve the absolute right to request the broadcast is stopped if, in the sole opinion of the care team, continuing to broadcast is detrimental to safe and effective patient care.

We may ask you to stop filming or take photos if, in our reasonable opinion, doing so is causing or could cause distress to patients, visitors or South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust colleagues or a breach of confidentiality. If you continue to do so, you may be asked to leave.

If you do obtain permission for filming and/or photography, please bear the following rules in mind at all times.

• Do not film or photograph patients, visitors, members of the public or members of staff who have not given their consent to be filmed or photographed.
• Obtain verbal consent from staff before filming or photographing them.
• Ensure that whoever you are filming or photographing understands what you intend to do with the film or photo and do not use it in any other way without obtaining further permission.
• Do not film or photograph, in a way that will identify others, patient records or any other patient information.
• Respect the wishes and requests of any patients or staff.

Guidance on the use of mobile devices by patients and service users

It’s important that when you use your mobile device in hospital you’re careful not to:

• Take anyone’s photo without permission, including staff or people in the background of your photos e.g. in busy waiting areas. It is important to remember that taking a photo or video could breach another patient’s privacy and cause them distress.
• Make video calls in a way that means the other person can see any other patients, visitors or staff members.
• Make calls or use your phone in a way that disturbs other patients.
• Use your mobile device around sensitive equipment where there is a particularly high risk of interference. Signs will make it clear that you shouldn’t use your phone in that area. Switch it off or enable ‘airplane mode’. Do not just leave the device on the silent or vibrate setting as it could still affect medical equipment.

The guidance above is reproduced from advice by NHS England: Use of mobile devices by patients in hospitals

Our Communications Team monitors comments and content across our social media channels. While we respect an individual’s right to Freedom of Speech, we will report/ remove any comments/ content that could be deemed inappropriate, unsafe, offensive, slanderous or spreading misinformation. This is including, but not limited to:

• Advertising or promoting services, including medical treatments
• Incomprehensible comments that are not relevant to the topics raised
• Violence, harm, or offensive language towards staff or anyone else on our accounts
• Comments from fake accounts or bots
• Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to misrepresent our Trust, services, or staff in any way without permission
• Photographs/ videos taken on our premises or of our staff/ patients without permission

To avoid breaking our guidelines, and having your comments/ content removed or reported, please:

• Do not post comments that are unlawful, false, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profane, discriminatory or of a sexual nature
• Do not swear
• Do not post content copied from elsewhere for which you do not own the copyright
• Do not post the same message, or very similar messages, more than once – this is known as spamming
• Do not publicise your, or anyone else’s, personal information, such as contact details or home address
• Do not advertise products or services
• Do not impersonate someone else
• Do not film on our premises without prior permission
• Do not post photographs/ videos of our staff without permission
• Do not spread disinformation or misinformation. We are committed to ensuring clear public health messaging.

If you break any of the above guidance, and we believe that your comments could cause offense, risk, or confusion to members of the public, we will issue you with a warning. If you ignore this warning and continue to repeatedly break our guidelines, we will block you from engaging with our content for a limited period of time. If, after this period ends, you continue to break our guidelines, we will have to report your account and block you from our channels.