Social Media Policy Statement

At our practice, we value open communication and feedback from our patients. We encourage constructive discussions about our services, but we also prioritise the privacy and dignity of our staff and patients.

Guidelines:

  1. Respect Privacy: We do not disclose personal information about our staff or patients without consent. We ask our community to do the same; please do not post comments that identify staff who work at the practice.
  2. Constructive Feedback: We welcome all feedback – positive and negative – as it is gives us the opportunity to review the services we provide and, where necessary, make changes or improvements. If you have concerns, we encourage you to contact us directly for resolution. Please submit your feedback, complaints or compliments through our website - Feedback, Compliments and Complaints - Ashley Centre Surgery.  Patients can use the NHS website should they wish to leave a review about the surgery - Ratings and reviews - Ashley Centre Surgery - NHS.
  3. Official Communication: Official responses regarding patient care will be provided through appropriate channels. We will not engage in discussions about specific cases on social media.
  4. Monitoring: We monitor our social media presence and will take action as necessary to protect our staff and patients’ confidentiality. 
  5. Reporting Issues: If you see a post that raises concerns about privacy or misrepresents our practice, please inform us directly.

Patient complaints on social media

In the modern age of the internet, some people choose to air their concerns regarding services on social media. Our experience is that, for the most part, comments posted on social media tend to be of a negative nature and attract all manner of further negative responses – often becoming individualised comments rather than constructive feedback about an organisation. Such posts about our practice staff have been brought to our attention in the past.

If any offensive social media posts are brought to our attention, we may contact the patient/s involved and invite them to have a face-to-face discussion about the issues that they have. However, depending on the content of the post, it may be viewed as a potential breakdown in the doctor-patient relationship and could result in you being removed from our practice list.

Thank you for your understanding and support in maintaining a respectful and supportive online community.