One of your friends has posted a picture of themselves in the educational dental clinic online, you notice that they have the patient notes in the background, what do you do?

Whether it's a public or a private account, publishing patient information is unacceptable.

In this situation, you should approach your friend privately and inform them calmly of the patient notes in the background, encouraging them to delete the post. You also want to make sure the post has been removed.

If your friend doesn't remove the post because it is a private account, you should escalate the situation and inform a supervisor of this incident. It is now up to them to handle the issue.

Informing the correct authority is so important as this involves patient information. This is a clear breach of confidentiality and of GDC principles and appropriate action must be taken. The actions you take in this situation should demonstrate that you are a responsible and trustworthy individual.

Take some time to reflect on the situation too. Posting patient information regardless of intention breaks patient trust is in unprofessional.