WhatsApp and patient pictures

ByDr Carol Chu

Published10 January 2018

A group chat may be a convenient way to discuss what you've seen on the wards with your peers, but you run the risk of breaching patient confidentiality.

The identity of the patient may be determined by piecing information together, for example if the condition the patient suffers from is extremely unusual.

Be very careful that you know who is in your group and that they have agreed not to forward any patient information, including photographs, to third parties.

Dr Carol Chu

MDU Medico-legal adviser

MB, ChB, MSc (Medical genetics), MD, MRCPI, MPhil (Medical Law) DLM Carol qualified at Sheffield University. She attained her CCST in clinical genetics and spent 13 years as a consultant clinical geneticist, the last six of these also being the Head of Department, managing not only the clinical department; doctors, counsellors and administrative staff (including records) but also the three laboratories. She left the NHS to pursue a longstanding interest in medical ethics and medical law as a medicolegal adviser for the MDU in 2011. She was also chair of a research ethics committee for 10 years.