In 2016 the Royal College of Nursing (UK) published the following policy statement: Nursing staff using personal mobile phones for work purposes
https://www.rcn.org.uk/Professional-Development/publications/pub-005705
They summarise their position as follows: 'The RCN does not support the use of staff personal mobile phones for routine provision of services. Staff personal mobile phones should never be used to record, transmit or store a patient’s personal details, health information, or images of the patient.'
Throughout the document the emphasis is on protection of patient confidentiality and privacy.
Taken literally, the statement appears to preclude the use of a personal mobile phone when two health professionals are discussing the care of a patient. For example, a nurse visiting a patient at home would not be allowed to use their personal phone to ask for advice from a clinical supervisor. This in turn suggests that all peripatetic nursing staff in the UK would need to carry a work phone for work purposes? Do they in reality carry both a work phone and a mobile phone? It seems cumbersome. Even if one could restrict all calls to work phones, this would not in itself eliminate breaches of confidentiality?
Are there similar policies in place in other countries?
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org