Hi Neil
Thanks for flagging this RCN position statement, which I was not aware of. It would be great to hear from HIFA members of position statements on this topics from other settings and other organisations.
The position statement's key message is "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." (page 3). [ https://www.rcn.org.uk/Professional-Development/publications/pub-005705 ]
The RCN document is clear on why they have taken this position. However, our research in Uganda and South Africa as well as the studies included in our systematic review of qualitative studies on informal mobile phone use globally, suggest that this position is not really feasible in many settings. One of the key reasons for this is that healthcare providers don't have viable digital alternatives for sharing information with patients, contacting patients about appointments and test results, staying in contact with their manager etc. A challenge for us is how to develop guidance on mobile phone use that is useful for these settings as well as others where some alternative communication channels may be available.
Best wishes
Simon
(Member of the mHealth-Innovate research team)
HIFA profile: Simon Lewin is a health systems researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) (https://www.ntnu.edu/employees/simon.lewin), the South African Medical Research Council (www.mrc.ac.za) and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (https://www.fhi.no/en/kn/ceir/). He has a keen interest in how research evidence can be used to inform decisions for health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and at the global level in multilateral organisations such as the WHO. As Co-Lead of Cochrane People, Health Systems and Public Health, he has played a key role in strengthening Cochrane’s work in the field of health systems and in developing Cochrane methods for qualitative evidence synthesis. Cochrane is a HIFA supporting organisation and Simon is a member of three HIFA working groups: CHWs; mHealth-Innovate (informal use of mobile phones by health workers) and Support-Systems - How can decision-making processes for health systems strengthening and universal health coverage be made more inclusive, responsive and accountable? https://www.hifa.org/support/members/simon Email: simon.lewin AT ntnu.no