British GP surgery tries to BAN its own patients from posting critical comments about standard of care on Facebook

A GP surgery tried to ban its own patients from posting negative comments about the practice on social media.

A poster at the St Lawrence Medical Practice in Braintree, Essex, warned patients that criticisms could be treated as a breach of its 'zero tolerance policy' against abusive treatment if posted on Facebook and Twitter.

The request was made after staff allegedly saw bad language used to describe the surgery's standard of care on a Facebook page.

The sign, which has since been changed, read: 'If you have any comments or complaints about the surgery please write to the practice manager.

'Do not use social media sites, Facebook/Twitter.

'Any comments we see on social media sites may be seen as a breach of our zero tolerance policy.

'We are happy to deal with your comments/complaints in the usual way.'

Practice Manager Alison Rudkin said the sign had been changed and now says: 'This ensures we can respond to people's concerns with patient confidentiality in mind'.

Katherine Murphy, Chief Executive of The Patients Association which gathers healthcare feedback from people all over the UK said: 'We believe people should be able to share and explore good and not so good feedback, and also to leave feedback on their personal experiences across the entire spectrum of healthcare.

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