Do not cover your face or react inappropriately by expressing anger
If you are approached by photographers or camera operators, allow them time to take your picture – they will take it anyway and you can maintain a professional demeanour rather than looking foolish. Do not cover your face or react inappropriately by expressing anger. Similarly, smiling can sometimes convey the wrong message.
If photographers appear outside your practice or hospital, let your staff or hospital management know, so that they can be prepared and take appropriate steps to make sure that patients are not harassed and that their confidentiality is preserved.
Top tips
- Do not run away from cameras or try to hide – this will create a negative image. Instead, let the photographer take a full shot of you.
- Let your staff know that there is/has been media attention; advise them to follow the same guidance.
What can you say to the media?
Ensure your team is aware of how to handle any media enquiries
It is difficult to give guidance for every situation, as each case is different, but there are a few general principles that you can follow. It is often wise to liaise with your trust press office, especially in secondary care, to agree, wherever possible, on the key messages.
Preserving patient confidentiality must be your foremost concern when deciding what you can and cannot say to a journalist. While you may not be able to give a lot of detail, you can explain why this is the case. This might be because of your ongoing duty of patient confidentiality, or because the case is the subject of legal proceedings.
In certain situations, it may be appropriate to make a specific comment. For instance, if a patient has died it is usually appropriate to offer condolences or express regret to the family. If a patient has made a complaint about your treatment directly to the press instead of to the practice, you might want to draw attention to your practice complaints procedure as the appropriate route to raise concerns. You could also say, for example, that you always try to provide the highest standard of care to your patients and encourage any patients with concerns to raise them direct with the practice.
It is best to keep your statement brief and factual; about 150 words maximum is a general guide. Column inches are limited, and a wordy statement gives the journalist an opportunity to edit what you have said and potentially change the meaning or emphasis.
GP Practices – supporting your team
Nominate one or two members of your team to be the first point of call for all media enquiries, as this will help to ensure a consistent approach
Handling media enquiries can be daunting for anyone who has not had any experience in dealing with the media before, including your team. It is therefore important that you have protocols in place for your staff to follow should the media approach the practice for comment. This will help them feel supported and more confident in dealing with an unfamiliar situation.
We suggest that you nominate one or two members of your team to be the first point of call for all media enquiries, as this will help to ensure a consistent approach.
The advice contained in the rest of this booklet can be used as a basis for developing your policy, but you might also like to liaise with the press office at your PCT. They will be able to give you specific advice and help you draw up guidelines for the types of queries that can be dealt with at practice level, and those that should be referred to the PCT.
If you anticipate that you may receive some media attention concerning a patient you have treated, you should make sure that you brief your team properly so that they know what they can and can't say.
You should ask staff to follow the principles for dealing with the media by phone, dealing with the media on your doorstep and photographers and camera operators.