MDU advises GPs on patient access
The Medical Defence Union has produced guidance for GPs to help them to ensure the confidentiality and accuracy of medical records being made available for patients online.
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MDU warns on email address fields
Doctors are being warned about the dangers of inadvertently breaching patient confidentiality when sending out group emails to patients.
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Get consent 2 txt – MDU
GP practices are being advised to get patients’ explicit consent before communicating with them via text message. Latest advice from the Medical Defence Union warns GPs that sending text messages to patients who have not opted-in to such a service could lead to complaints. The defence body said GP practices were increasingly looking at text […]
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Doctors warned of Facebook flirts
Doctors have been warned not to respond to flirtatious approaches from patients on social networking sites like Facebook.
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MDU issues warning on practice website info
GP practices offering health information on their websites must make it clear that the information is intended solely for patients of the practice and is not a substitute for personal advice from a GP, according to a medical defence body. The Medical Defence Union is advising practices to insert a statement on their websites emphasising […]
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Consider ethical issues of care record, MDU advises
GPs need to consider going beyond implied consent before allowing patient information to be uploaded to the spine, according to a medical defence body. The Medical Defence Union has issued new guidance on the Summary Care Record which highlights GPs’ ethical duties. It points out that guidance to GPs from the Department of Health only […]
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Milton Keynes PCT mandates Choose and Book use
A primary care trust has told its GPs that referral letters sent direct to a local hospital will be returned to be re-sent using Choose and Book. Milton Keynes PCT has said that, with the exception of referrals which cannot currently be made using Choose and Book, all referrals must be done through the e-booking […]
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Offer alternatives to self check-in, GPs advised
GP practices who use patient self check-in systems need to make sure patients are informed about their use and offered alternative systems, a medical defence body has warned. The Medical Defence Union (MDU) has issued advice about the use of automated appointments systems after receiving a number of calls from MDU members with check-in systems […]
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MDU warns practices of data transfer privacy risks
Practices must warn patients that electronic transmission of data is not totally secure or foolproof, says a medical defence organisation in its new guidance on confidentiality. The Medical Defence Union has updated its guide to confidentiality and included a revised section on new recording and communication technologies. It says technologies such as mobile phones, video […]
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MDU warns GPs to keep electronic records ‘clean’
The Medical Defence Union has warned GPs that if they do not scrupulously maintain their electronic patient records they may be left unable to defend negligence claims. An article published in the MDU Journal warned that both existing electronic patient records systems and the NHS Care Records Service contain pitfalls for GPs, and that omissions […]
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