BC's College of Physicians and Surgeons has guidance on themes of social media use during times of COVID-19

With Social Media seemingly taking on the role of the new community clinic, more and more information notes and opinion pieces are making their way to the public from British Columbia's doctors and surgeons.

It's a situation that has now earned Social Media a spot in the guidance provided to doctors by the British Columbia College and Physicians.

On the British Columbia College website is a section that is called College Connector and from that portal the latest advice on how Physicians and Surgeons should approach their social media use is explained.

In the instructions for the medical professionals, the College notes how the organization is working with Dr. Bonnie Henry the Public Health Officer and her staff to provide for the most qualified response to the many quesitons related to COVID-19

The College has been working closely with Dr. Bonnie Henry and her office to ensure timely messages are delivered to physicians. As the provincial health officer, Dr. Henry is in constant touch with her national counterparts, the Ministry of Health and the health authorities, and is therefore the most qualified spokesperson to provide British Columbians with factual and timely updates about COVID-19. During her updates, Dr. Henry is taking great care to ensure the privacy of individuals who are affected, which of course is of utmost importance.

The body which watches over the medical profession in the province has also taken note of the growing use of Social Media and how Doctors in communities across British Columbia must be aware of the need for caution in how they present any information through the many venues now available for comment and opinion.

The College has recently learned of instances where information has been posted on social media or provided to the press about individual patient cases and test results, including the identification of certain smaller communities. This is not acceptable. Physicians must not disclose information about individual patients in any setting, including stories shared directly with other people, even if patient identities are not revealed. 

The risk of a privacy breach is too great. In the event of a complaint from an affected patient, a breach of this nature may be considered unprofessional conduct. 

 Please follow the guidance of the provincial health officer and refrain from adding to the confusion and anxiety by posting alarming messages or storytelling.

Towards providing for a consistent and informed message the College goes on to recommend that British Columbians take note of Dr. Henry's daily briefings to the Province, as well as to make use of the BC Centre for Disease Control website for the latest information.

In recent weeks, the North Coast has seen a number of letters, opinion pieces and Facebook posts from medical practitioners and others relayed through Social media; many with a range of material that could be making a run at, if not passing over some of those guidelines as outlined by the college.

You can review the full guidance as outlined from the College of Physicians and Surgeons website here.

They also offer up their own list of information pieces for physicians to review here.

Further background on the coordinated approach towards COVID-19 see our archive page here.

For more notes related to health care through Northern Health see our archive page here.