US Edition
NHS staff are being harassed by patients who are filming them with phones and threatening to post footage online, new research has shown.
A survey of thousands of UK health workers revealed that one in seven had experienced unwanted and intrusive filming or photography in the past year, Unison said.
The union said incidents had left staff feeling intimidated and fearful.
Experiences include people using their phones to film health workers on duty or giving emergency care as they treat patients for cardiac arrests. That footage is then being livestreamed or put on social media platforms, the study revealed.
Phone cameras are also used as the digital equivalent of “rubbernecking”, said the union, with one member of the public brazenly filming a victim of a car accident with serious injuries despite pleas from staff to stop.
The culprit had to be escorted from the scene by police.
‘Patients think they can get own way’
NHS workers say phones, webcams and other hidden devices are commonly used, often accompanied by threats to intimidate staff or as bargaining tools, in an attempt to have medication prescribed.
Incidents are occurring in hospitals, patients’ homes and even during medical consultations, with the footage being livestreamed to relatives who sometimes interrupt and disagree with diagnoses being given by clinical staff, Unison said.
One member of staff said: “Patients think they can get their own way, and make you do things you don’t have to, by getting a phone out and filming just to intimidate you.”
Christina McAnea, the general secretary of Unison, said: “Health workers must be able to do their jobs free from harassment, unwanted and intrusive filming and associated threats of violence.
“Their work is tough enough as it is, without people shoving phones in their faces and putting them under a whole new level of pressure.
“Harassing NHS workers through social media, or threatening to post material online, is completely unacceptable.
“Employers and the Government must take this issue seriously, provide solid support and intervene properly, not abandon staff to tackle the online bullies themselves.
“Employers should make it clear that filming staff at work without consent is harassment and that they will come down hard on anyone who indulges in this kind of threatening anti-social behaviour.”
The survey was released on the opening day of Unison’s annual health conference in Liverpool.