The audit confirmed that practitioners are discouraged from using SoMe by prohibitive and contradictory employer policies

A further finding emerged, in that the policies are skewed in their focus towards protecting the Trust’s image and reputation

Recommendations Employers should: consult the National Information board5 to base their SoMe policies on National Health

Information requirements, aligning with the NHS vision for utilising SoMe in communication

consult NHS Breast Screening Programme, health practitioners & patient groups to integrate the use of SoMe in breast health promotion & uptake, revising policies in line with current digital health trends

undertake robust independent assessment of communication policies to ensure quality, safety & effectiveness

provide employee training in effective use of SoMe

Background

Problem: The NHS information strategy promotes the use of Social Media (SoMe) to engage online with patients in innovative ways.1 The WoMMeN breast screening social media hub has been developed in response to this strategy2.

Funded by the College of Radiographers Industry Partnership Scheme (CoRIPS), the WoMMeN team have been hosting workshops to explore practitioners’ attitudes to online engagement with patients; finding that practitioners feel discouraged from using SoMe by their Trust communication policies. This is at odds with the NHS strategy1 and the Society and College of Radiographers’ SoMe Guidelines3.

Aim: To discover what Trust Communication policies say about staff using SoMe, and to see if this aligns with NHS strategy.

Mixed messages - an audit of NHS Trust policies regarding use of Social Media

Beverley Scragg, East Lancs’ Hospitals NHS Trust UK; Shaheeda Shaikh, The Nightingale Centre, Manchester UK; Leslie Robinson, University of Salford UK (l.robinson@salford.ac.uk)

References 1) Department of Health (2012)The power of information: putting all of us in control of the health and care information we need. London 2) www.wommen.org.uk 3) Society of Radiographers (2015) SoMeRAD: Guidance for the radiography workforce on the professional use of social media 4) Ritchie J, Lewis J: (2003) Qualitative research practice: a guide for social science students and researchers. London: Sage 5) https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/national-information-board

Conclusion

Results

Data word tree

Method

Qualitative Content Analysis: Analysis used the policy documents as raw data; a thematic analysis was undertaken separately by two mammographers then the results compared and agreed upon. Initial agreement was 85% before a consensus discussion to finalise themes.

Framework Analysis: Two mammographers derived a framework from the data to analyse the overall tone of the policies4; categories were either discouraging, encouraging or enabling. The policies were then re-examined in detail for content and the final themes were distributed across the framework; 19 different issues were addressed by the policies in total.

Sample: Convenience sampling. Ten NHS Trusts provide breast screening in the North West region. Their policies were accessed online or obtained from the communications team. Nine policies on internet and social media use were acquired.

Fig 2: Frequency with which issues are mentioned across all policies

(2) Frequency of mentions (fig 2) ‘Upholding the reputation of the Trust’ is mentioned

most frequently Patient confidentiality is not the most frequently

mentioned issue There was only one mention of SoMe training for staff

(1 policy) Professional conduct & behaviour is frequently

addressed; in some cases with reference to SoMe in personal life too

(3) Commonality of themes (fig 3) Communication policies are varied in content and

comprehensiveness: all policies mention upholding Trust reputation,

and similar governance issues monitoring internet and SoMe traffic is enforced

by 8 policies allowing access to SoMe /internet is addressed in

5 policies upholding staff personal reputation is considered

in 4 policies

The most frequent phrase, whether addressing Trust or staff communication was:

‘damaging to the reputation of the Trust’

Fig 4: nVivo software aided word tree

Find us at: www.wommen.org.uk @WOMMeN3 WOMMeN Breast Screening Mammography

(1) Tone (fig 1) Communication policies are:

mostly discouraging and overtly prohibitive in tone

sometimes contradictory; with one displaying both prohibitive and encouraging tones

giving mixed messages about whether SoMe should be used by health professionals

Fig 1: Tonal Analysis of SoMe Policies

Fig 3: Commonality of themes across all 9 policies

The authors have no disclosures regarding research support