Photography and social media advice - public, patients and visitors

Videoing healthcare staff

There are good reasons why patients, relatives, carers or visitors may wish to record their treatment or clinical session.

You might want to share information with loved ones or carers, or you might like to play it back later to remind yourself about the advice given.  Requests to record sessions in such circumstances should not generally be refused as it is important there is transparency and co-production in relation to patient care.

However, there may be times when a clinician may not wish to be filmed. An example could be if they were concerned that being videoed while they carried out a clinical procedure could distract them, negatively impacting on the care they can give you.

If this is the case, we ask that you respect their wishes not to be filmed. Perhaps a compromise could be an agreement that the information/advice part of the appointment could be recorded instead.

Key to the examples above is that all parties, staff, patients, and/or the relative/carer who may be present, are all aware of the videoing/recording and have agreed to it.

Whilst on NHS Wales sites everyone is asked to be mindful of the dignity of other patients, visitors and staff. No-one should take photos or videos of others or post their names and or other details online without their express permission.

Failure to show respect for the rights of other patients, the public and staff may result in action being taken in the same way as any other inappropriate behaviour

Unsolicited filming of healthcare staff

The unsolicited photographing, filming or recording of healthcare staff by patients, service users and the public - particularly when such content is uploaded to social media platforms - raises serious concerns regarding privacy, consent, and the psychological safety of staff.

• Do not film or take pictures of healthcare staff unless they have agreed
• Do not upload images or videos of healthcare staff to social media unless they have agreed

Filming of other patients and visitors

Videoing or taking pictures in hospital sites of other patients or visitors without their knowledge or agreement risks breaching their privacy.

This is because while hospitals are open to the public, they are not public spaces like a park, a beach or a town centre. The difference is that unlike these general public spaces, there is an expectation of privacy within a hospital.

Not every patient who attends hospital may have told their family or friends that they have a clinical appointment. Therefore, publishing a video or image of them online, without their knowledge or agreement, may breach this privacy and cause distress.

As a health board it is therefore legitimate to prohibit videoing/photographs in certain areas - particularly clinical areas - to ensure that recordings/photography do not infringe on the privacy and confidentiality of other patients or staff.

The exception to this is when the filming or photography has been agreed beforehand.

• Do not film or photograph other patients or hospital visitors without their agreement
• Do not upload videos or images of other patients or hospital visitors to social media without their agreement
• Avoid inadvertently capturing confidential information, like conversations in the background, or medical notes

Social media

Patients and the public are welcome to use social media while on Swansea Bay UHB sites and can use our free Wi-Fi to do so. It’s a great way to keep in touch with family and friends when you’re in hospital.

As stated earlier, when on NHS Wales sites everyone is asked to be mindful of the dignity of other patients, visitors and staff. No-one should take photos or videos of others or post their names and or other details online without their express permission.

Sometimes patients, members of their family or friends use social media to express their views - positive and negative - about the care being provided.

It’s important that you feel able to express your views, and we welcome all feedback.

But if you have a concern about care, please avoid naming individual members of staff on social media videos or posts. Strict rules which are in place to protect your confidential information mean staff are prevented from responding online to any allegations made against them personally. This puts staff in a distressing and unfair situation.

In extreme cases, critical social media posts identifying individual members of staff could be deemed to be harassment or cyber-bullying and reported to police.

Also, if a social media post makes false allegations against an identifiable member of staff and harms their reputation, the person who uploaded it could be subject to defamation (libel) proceedings.

If you have a concern about care, please do speak to a member of staff in the first place so they can do whatever they can to put things right straight away.

More details about how to raise concerns, or give us compliments and feedback are available on our website, follow this link to our 'Complaints, Compliments and Feedback' page for more information.

• Do not name or identify individual members of healthcare staff on social media if you are posting a complaint about care. Instead, please be more general and refer to your experience and/or the service/department overall
• If you have a concern - while you are of course free to use social media to express it - please do talk to staff first to see if they can fix it
• Alternatively, please use the various methods outlined on our website to complain or let us know when we’re doing well
• Even if your social media post is glowing about the care you’ve had, please remember to get permission from staff before you share a picture or video of them, or their details, online

July 2026