Watching the watchers
Do you make use of video surveillance in your practice? The Information Commissioner’s Office has significantly revised its CCTV code of practice and these changes must be considered in addition to requirements from the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and developing technologies.
Antibiotics – damned if you do…
CERTAIN things are sadly inevitable as winter approaches, including the upsurge in demand for antibiotics. How do you balance that with the risks of overprescribing?
Altering patient notes
CLINICAL notes are an important record of the encounters between medical or dental staff and their patients. Altering them in a less than honest or straightforward way can result in serious consequences.
Confusion over administering flu jabs
FLU season will soon be upon us and questions regarding healthcare assistants (HCAs) administering flu vaccinations are already being raised on a regular basis with the MDDUS advisory service. Practice adviser Helen Ormiston addresses confusion over the necessary requirements.
Prying into patient data
A SPATE of recent cases prompts a reminder of the potentially serious consequences of prying into patients’ medical records without a legitimate reason.
Addressing unsafe rotas
PATIENT safety can be affected by your presence as well as your absence. Liz Price offers advice on raising concerns over potentially unsafe rotas.
Keeping safeguarding records safe
SAFEGUARDING potentially vulnerable children can pose particular challenges to doctors and dentists - and the processing and storage of records and case conference reports is a frequent issue.
Gift or abuse of trust?
IT'S a common dilemma for many clinicians – when are "tokens of gratitude" more than just that and is it ever really okay to accept a gift from a patient?
Caught in the media spotlight
Dealing with the press can be stressful for anybody – but for doctors and other healthcare professionals it can be particularly tricky
Can reflective practice be “incriminating”?
Reflective practice is a common tool for maintaining good practice – but many healthcare professionals have raised concerns that taking part in these formal procedures might "incriminate" them should a complaint or claim arise.