Facebook alert for doctors

DOCTORS are being warned not to make friends with their patients on social networking sites.

The British Medical Association has issued advice urging medics and students not to blur the boundaries with people they are treating or have treated in the past, for example by accepting a Facebook friendship request.

It warns that doctors and medical students who use sites such as Facebook and Twitter carelessly could be "risking their privacy, damaging their professionalism and risking the doctor-patient relationship".

The guidance says: "Given the greater accessibility of personal information, entering into informal relationships with patients on sites like Facebook can increase the likelihood of inappropriate boundary transgressions, particularly where previously there existed only a professional relationship between a doctor and patient."

Key points made in the advice include taking steps to keep personal information private, while being aware that this is not always possible on the internet.

The rules remind doctors that it is "inappropriate to post informal, personal or derogatory comments about patients or colleagues on public internet forums".