Recording Devices in the Surgery

Can I record my consultation?

Discuss this question with the practitioner you are consulting with. Recording of a consultation can only take place when consent to record the consultation from the practitioner you are consulting with has been given. On some occasions, recording consultations can be a helpful aide memoire to the details given. However, there are other occasions when it will not be felt appropriate to record consultations and to do so will have the effect of creating an intimidating or adversarial atmosphere within the consultation. Material recorded during the consultation may be taken out of context and/or distributed in a manner for which it was not intended. Permission to record a consultation will be recorded in the patient’s medical records. Once a practitioner has given agreement to record, patients are welcome to record their own consultations.  They can either record audio or video.

We ask that patients think very carefully before carrying out concealed recordings of practitioners. Such behaviour will inevitably damage trust between the patient and the Surgery and will not promote a positive therapeutic relationship. We ask that patients considering making a covert recording of a practitioner consider how they themselves would feel if a member of the Surgery made a concealed recording of them during a consultation. In such a situation, patients would feel rightly violated and the practitioner would face a serious disciplinary issue.

Accordingly: It is practice policy that a covert recording of a practitioner is an Unacceptable Behaviour. Patients found to be doing so will be asked to stop the recording where possible and will receive a behaviour warning which may put at risk their registration at the Surgery.

No one is permitted to use a recording device in the public areas of the Surgery. To do so is a serious Unacceptable Behaviour which may lead to removal from the practice. All patients have privacy rights and no recording of other patients must be made without their explicit consent. Any such recording is likely to be an interference with their privacy rights under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Patients have a reasonable expectation of privacy when they attend the Surgery. Recorded audio and or images made in the public areas of the Surgery, e.g. by the reception desk, may reveal personal and intimate information. Such images and audio (that may either be shared, uploaded or otherwise stored) would cause a serious breach in a patient’s expectation of privacy.