A round up of the latest HR and Employment Law updates.

THINK BEFORE POSTING IMAGES ON WEBSITES AND SOCIAL MEDIA

This week sees GPs and practice personnel cautioned to take greater care when posting on websites or social media. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted a photo of himself with brain surgeons at the UniversityCollegeLondonHospital to celebrate “excellent clinical work”. Unfortunately, the photo’s background displayed a whiteboard that included the names of patients in the hospital making this a clear, if inadvertent, breach of patient confidentiality.

Despite the Department of Health saying it was an “entirely unintentional mistake” it calls into question the practice of the spontaneous ‘selfie’.

It’s also very easily done when taking a photograph of practice personnel sitting in their offices. Check what is on show in the background of each and every image before it is circulated (or, preferably, before the picture is taken).

EXISTING GPs “SUBSTITUTED” BY PARAMEDICS

In a worrying move for GPs the Primary Care Workforce Commission report found that the “potential for paramedics to substitute for GPs in the assessment of urgent requests for home visits merits further evaluation”.

The government was also criticised when it specifically asked the report not to examine recommendations on GP numbers. Although prior to the report the government had indicated that it was committed to 5,000 new GPs by 2020, they have since qualified this as the “maximum” number of new GPs.

Experts, including Professor Martin Roland (University of Cambridge), say that this is clearly not going to be sufficient.

OBESE CHILDREN – WILL WE SEE USA STYLE “FAT CAMPS”?

Quality statement 4 of the new NICE guidance “Obesity: prevention and lifestyle weight management in children and young people” http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs94  has caused concern amongst GPs this week.

The statement advocates that GP’s encourage “lifestyle weight management programmes for children and young people in their area” by making sure that people are aware of the programmes and how they can enrol. It’s a fine line between signposting services and advocating methods in a highly sensitive area of patient care.

TIME TO REVIEW PRACTICE EQUALITY FOR MUMS IN THE WORKPLACE

As a reminder to practices to review equality, the Equality Commissions report “Pregnancy and Maternity-Related Discrimination and Disadvantage First findings: Surveys of Employers and Mothers” http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/publication/pregnancy-and-maternity-related-discrimination-and-disadvantage-first-findings-surveys-employers-and-0 was released on the 24^th July 2015. The report is based on two sets of surveys covering the “views and experiences of employers and mothers”.

The report found that:

“Around one in nine mothers (11%) reported that they were either dismissed; made compulsorily redundant, where others in their workplace were not; or treated so poorly they felt they had to leave their job”

One in five mothers reported having “experienced harassment or negative comments related to pregnancy or flexible working from their employer and / or colleagues”

ASSOCIATIVE DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION

Practices need to review disciplinary procedures following Truman v Bibby Distribution Ltd ET/2404176/2014 to ensure a consistent and clear process and records.

The case concerned an employee who told his employer about increased caring responsibilities (his daughter has cystic fibrosis and his wife was starting a new business) and was later dismissed. Despite satisfactory performance reviews the employee was advised by his employer that the reason for dismissal that “his heart wasn’t in the business”. The employee, suspicious of the true motives for dismissal, took his claim to a Tribunal and successfully claimed associative disability discrimination – his dismissal was associated with his daughter’s disability.