‘Evening all’ (said in my best Dixon of Dock Green voice). You may be thinking I’ve gone slightly mad with a blog about poster police but do bear with me, it’ll be a useful read. We all know that we need to provide accessible information for our patients, be it information about the services on offer or health promotion posters that relate to the current NHS campaign calendar of health and wellbeing. Traditionally, health promotion posters were displayed on noticeboards but it is becoming increasingly common to display such information on monitors within waiting areas. However, if you do like the more traditional approach of displaying posters in your practice, then read on as I’ve some top tips to share with you.

Too few versus too many, what do you need to get the balance just right? Well, it’s not just the waiting area where you need to display pertinent information, it starts at the front door of your practice. You’ll need info about opening hours, what to do when the practice is closed, the names of the partners and also COVID-secure information. So, that’s four already and we’ve not set foot inside yet! Like DCI Gene Hunt hot on the trail of a villain, we move inside to assess the scene, what do we have here? Drawing pins? Unlaminated posters? Grubby noticeboards? You’re nicked!

In the waiting area(s), you will need to show a lot of information, around 27 posters to be precise and that excludes your health promotion campaign posters! Too many? Well think again. You’ll need to cover subjects like accessible information through to zero tolerance and a host of other useful information that the CQC would expect to see. Have no fear, a guidance document is here [PLUS] and we’ve created poster templates for you too.

Thankfully not all CQC inspectors are of the DCI Gene Hunt ilk and, away from the interview room, I had a chat to an inspector about posters in practices to get some top tips to keep the poster police at bay.

1. Make sure your posters are either wipeable or laminated so they can be cleaned easily
2. Use something like Velcro® (other adhesives are available) as this reduces the risk of drawing pins falling off or being pulled off by children. (FACT – HSE myth busters advise that children can still play pin the tail on the donkey using drawing pins!)
3. Fabric noticeboards are out – dry wipe type boards are preferred as they are wipeable
4. If you have to use a fabric noticeboard, ideally it should be risk assessed from an IPC perspective
5. Don’t clutter noticeboards, information needs to be easily readable and in date!

Ok, you may be thinking a risk assessment is over the top but the CQC may ask for a copy of your cleaning schedule to ensure it includes noticeboards and to check when the boards were last cleaned. If you’ve assessed the risk and the board is cleaned regularly and incorporated in the cleaning schedule then you’re not going to get your collar felt!

We’ve covered the entrance and waiting area, let’s proceed on our beat and take a look at reception. Around five posters are recommended here including confidentiality, respect and hearing loop (if applicable). You may also want to add ‘are your contact details up to date’ and translator/interpreters posters here too.

As you transit the practice, pay close attention to the information (or lack of) that is available in corridors. You would expect to see evacuation routes and emergency exits clearly signposted, directions to consultation rooms and toilets too. In addition, reminders about staying COVID-secure, wearing a mask etc. would be beneficial. As you continue to walk the patch, it’s time for a quick spot check of the facilities, they are nice and clean but are they bereft of information? This is an ideal area and opportunity to display some information, not just about handwashing but subjects like domestic violence, use of antibiotics, seasonal flu, staying safe in the sun and so on. Remember, all posters need to be laminated or wipe clean.

Let’s inspect the consulting rooms next as this is another area that can be used to display patient information but let’s keep it simple and call it the rule of six (sound familiar?); complaints process, chaperones, feedback, safeguarding (including FGM), demographic specific info, i.e. diabetes and zero tolerance.

We’re almost done, let’s head over to the staff room and it’s here you’d would expect to see the H&S poster, employers liability insurance and governance related information. If you don’t have a dedicated staff room, this information can be displayed in the corridor next to the main office areas or similar, anywhere where there is a high throughput of staff.

One last stop and then we’re done. Staff toilets, another area which is prime for displaying reminders about mandatory training for example and development/inspirational information as well as at least one hand washing sign! You will however, need to think about the risks of inadequate hand hygiene and have processes in place to prevent poor hand hygiene. See GP mythbuster 99: Infection prevention and control in General Practice for more information.

That’s your practice patrol complete. Hopefully, you’re well placed to know what you need to add and/or remove throughout your practice to make sure the poster police don’t come knocking at your door.

Stay safe and don’t let the long arm of the law poster police get you!

Useful resources:

• Posters recommended for CQC [PLUS]
• Posters [PLUS]