1. Overview/procedure description
The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) aims to use social media
to share information about the RCH, promote RCH stories, support the delivery
of high standards of clinical care, promote consumer engagement with the
hospital, share information to improve health literacy and foster and strengthen our ties to the community. This procedure
has been designed to support that aim, through providing direction to all staff
within the RCH around the use of both RCH hosted and non-RCH hosted social
media, where the RCH is known, identified or presumed within the content. The
procedure also sets out the obligations and requirements that are intended to
ensure compliance with legal and regulatory restrictions and privacy and
confidentiality agreements.
2. Related Policy & Procedures
3. Definition of Terms
- Communications:
includes all internal and external communications.
- Staff:
includes RCH employees, contractors, agents, accredited medical
practitioners and volunteers
- Social
Media may include (although is not limited to):
- social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Instagram, Yammer, Slack)
- video and photo sharing websites (e.g. Google Images, Flicker, YouTube, Vimeo)
- blogs, including corporate blogs and personal blogs
- blogs hosted by media outlets (e.g. 'comments' or 'your say' feature on theage.com.au)
- micro-blogging (e.g. Twitter)
- wikis and online collaborations (e.g. Wikipedia, Clouds)
- forums, discussion boards and groups (Google groups, Whirlpool)
- VOD and podcasting
- online multiplayer gaming platforms (e.g. World of Warcraft, Second life)
- instant messaging (including SMS, WhatsApp)
- geo-spatial tagging (Foursquare)
4. Procedure details
- Access
to social media sites is provided by the RCH but cannot be used by
employees for work purposes without prior approval by RCH Corporate Communications .
- RCH
staff who use social media for personal purposes, must not disclose any confidential information received or otherwise obtained through with the RCH, including personal information of patients,
parents, visitors or other staff members, or do anything else that may
constitute a breach of privacy legislation
or disclose information that may adversely affect the RCH
public image or reputation.
- RCH
staff who use social media for
personal purposes must not use social media in a way that is inappropriate or may adversely affect the RCH public image or reputation or may bring the RCH into disrepute.
- When
using social media, users must not post or display their RCH contact or
email details. if any RCH identifying feature is shown (such as a uniform, lanyard, scrubs or RCH premises, including the Creature or any other physical or location identifier) the post must comply with all aspects of this procedure, particularly with regard to patient and staff privacy. RCH image/ reputation and the appropriateness of the content.
- Use
of any RCH branding on social media must be approved by Corporate
Communications.
- Personal
opinions expressed on social media must not in any way be associated with
the RCH name and staff should make all efforts to specify that views expressed are their own.
- Photographs,
images or videos of patients, families, visitors, staff or volunteers in their professional capacity are not
to be used on personal social media or personal internet sites and cannot
be used on RCH hosted social media or internet sites without prior
approval from Corporate Communications and appropriate consent from the subjects.
- With
prior approval from Corporate Communications, only nominated RCH
spokespersons and RCH experts can speak on behalf of the RCH on matters
of public interest; employees should neither claim nor imply that they
are speaking on the RCH's behalf unless authorised to do so.
- RCH
will comply with legislation relating to privacy, disclosure and freedom
of information.
- RCH
will respect at all times the communications protocols laid down by the
Commonwealth and Victorian State Governments.
- Any
breach of this procedure may result in the RCH taking disciplinary
action, which may include termination of employment.
- All
RCH Internet users should be aware that Internet usage is monitored and
filtered by the RCH Information and Communication Technology Department
and activity logs are recorded.
Professional use of social media
The Corporate Communications department manages the use of
social media on behalf of the RCH, including monitoring social media
conversation, posting information and comments. RCH staff shall not use the RCH
brand or engage on social media as a representative of the RCH or their
department, unless authorised to do so prior by RCH Corporate
Communications.
Use of social media in research
Social media can be used as a tool for research in a number of ways, such as advertising, recruiting and communicating with participants. Staff must consider the advantages and limitations of the different social media platforms (to be used in the research project), and consider the relevant ethical and governance issues.
All use of social media for research must be approved by the RCH Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) or the Research Ethics and Governance office and must comply with this procedure and the Social Media: Use in Research guideline.
Rules of Engagement
Once authorised to comment as an RCH or individual
department representative, you must:
- Disclose
you are a member of staff and use only your own identity or an approved
official account or online identity.
- Disclose
and comment only on information classified as public domain information.
- Ensure
that any medical information disclosed is marked as 'for information
purposes only' and therefore is not intended to be medical advice, should
not be considered medical advice, nor is it intended to replace
consultation with a qualified medical practitioner.
- Ensure
that all content published is accurate and not misleading and complies
with all relevant RCH policies.
- Ensure
you are not the first to make an announcement (unless specifically given
permission to do so).
- Comment
only on your area of expertise and authority.
- Ensure
comments are respectful of the community in which you are interacting
online.
- Adhere
to the Terms of Use of the relevant social media platform/website, as
well as copyright, privacy, defamation, contempt of court, discrimination,
harassment and other applicable laws, and the RCH Privacy and
Confidentiality Agreement.
Once authorised to comment as an RCH or individual
department representative, you must not:
- Post,
share or respond to content that is inappropriate. This includes, but is not limited to, content that is offensive, obscene, defamatory,
threatening, harassing, bullying, discriminatory, hateful, racist,
sexist, infringes copyright, constitutes a contempt of court, breaches a
court suppression order or is otherwise unlawful.
- Use
or disclose any information that is confidential or secure.
- Make
any comment or post content that might otherwise cause damage to the
RCH's image or bring it into disrepute.
Moderation of RCH produced social media
- The
site owner must ensure a moderation policy is clear when inviting
comments from the public on an RCH website or social media platform.
- All
RCH website activity (including any social media) must be approved by the
Corporate Communications team.
Personal use of social media
RCH recognises that staff may use social media in their
personal life. This procedure does not intend to discourage nor unduly limit
personal expression or online activities. To that end, RCH staff are able
to identify the RCH as their place of work on social media.
However, staff should recognise the potential for damage to
be caused (either directly or indirectly) to the RCH in certain circumstances
via personal use of social media. Accordingly, staff should comply with this
procedure to ensure that the risk of such damage is minimised when using social
media. The guidance and directions in this procedure apply to your use of
social media whether or not you identify yourself as an employee of the RCH.
You should be aware that if you have identified yourself as
an employee of the RCH, whether directly or indirectly through content which allows RCH to be identified as your employer, you must consider carefully what you post in your use
of social media. You are personally responsible for the content you
publish in a personal capacity on any form of social media platform. When in
doubt, you should seek guidance from your RCH manager or HR partner on how to
comply with the following obligations.
When you use social media
You must :
- only
disclose and discuss publicly available information. Confidential information received or otherwise obtained through your role with the RCH, including personal information of patients, families, visitors or other staff members, must not be disclosed. This obligation continues following your cessation with the RCH.
- ensure
that all content published is accurate and not misleading and complies
with all relevant RCH policies
- expressly
state on all postings which identify you as an employee that the stated
views are your own and are not those of the RCH or a Campus Partner
- adhere
to the Terms of Use of the relevant social media platform/website, as
well as copyright, privacy, defamation, contempt of court,
discrimination, harassment and other applicable laws, and the RCH
Personal Information - Confidentiality procedure and the RCH Personal
Information- Security Procedure.
- be
polite and respectful to all people you interact with
You must not:
- post
or share content that is inappropriate, which includes but is not limited to content that is offensive, obscene, defamatory, threatening,
harassing, bullying, discriminatory, hateful, racist, sexist, infringes
copyright, constitutes a contempt of court, breaches a Court suppression
order, or is otherwise unlawful
- imply
that you are authorised to speak as a representative of the RCH or our
Campus Partners, nor give the impression that the views you express are
those of the RCH or our Campus Partners
- use
the identity or likeness of another employee, contractor or other member
of the RCH or a Campus Partner
- use
or disclose any confidential information obtained in your capacity as an
employee/contractor/volunteer of the RCH or our Campus Partners
- use
your RCH email address or any RCH or Campus Partners logos or insignia
that may give the impression of official support or endorsement of your
personal comment
- post
or share content that is, or might be construed as, threatening,
harassing, bullying or discriminatory.
- make
any comment, post or share any
content that might otherwise cause damage to the RCH's or a Campus
Partners' reputation or image, or bring it into disrepute.
Interaction with patients and/or family members
- We
also acknowledge that patients and/or their families may wish to connect
to a staff member via social media. As set out in the 'Professional
Boundaries' procedure, staff of the RCH or our Campus Partners should not
form social relationships with patients or their family members in the
workplace or outside of the hospital.
- It
is unacceptable for personal relationships or social contact to develop
between staff of the RCH or our Campus Partners with patients and their
family members via electronic communication such as email or social media
sites.
- Should
an employee feel threatened by a family or patient through social media,
they should inform their manager and contact their relevant HR Partner.
5. Contacts