Social media outside of work

Protect your reputation, and your employer's, when engaging with social media partnerships. 

Ravi's story   

Ravi is a dental nurse who has been working at a busy dental hospital for five years. He enjoys his work and has decided to create a TikTok account to share his life as a dental nurse. It started out with Ravi sharing lighthearted and informative videos about oral hygiene, keeping healthy, and educational videos about becoming a dental nurse. However, over time, the nature of his content shifted. He began filming within the hospital premises, often using the facilities and equipment. His channel has since evolved to include promotional content and includes adverts for teeth whitening, orthodontic services, and other dental treatments not offered at the hospital. Ravi often uses his TikTok platform to direct viewers to other companies that could offer them these services, for which he receives a small fee.  

A member of Ravi’s team has raised concerns about a potential undeclared conflict of interest and using the hospital’s reputation for personal gain. He has advised Ravi that he will alert a senior member of staff about Ravi’s TikTok account if he continues. He refers Ravi to the hospital's social media policy and advises him that some of his content is inappropriately using the hospital's name and logo.   

See how Ravi used his professional judgement to deal with the situation... 

Immediately, upon recognising the error in his judgement, Ravi archived the content from his TikTok account so that it was no longer visible. He apologised to the colleague who had raised concerns, and assured him that the issue had been resolved.  

Ravi spoke to his manager, who arranged a meeting with a senior member of staff about his breach of the hospital’s social media policy. He was remorseful of his actions and emphasised that his misuse of the hospital's name and logo in the background of his videos was unintentional. Ravi also disclosed that he had been paid to promote dental treatments that were not offered by the hospital, which extended beyond his area of expertise as a dental nurse.  

To his surprise, the senior member of staff acknowledged Ravi’s earlier content as informative and beneficial to patients as he was aware of Ravi’s TikTok account when he started. It was the subsequent promotional activities and paid advertisements that contravened the policy. With this clarification, and after reviewing the hospital’s guidelines, Ravi was encouraged to resume posting educational dental content.  

Driven by his commitment to provide valuable information promoting good oral health care, Ravi re-established his TikTok presence, focusing on creating informative and engaging content. His renewed efforts were met with positive feedback from patients, who appreciated the valuable information he was sharing. By prioritising patient interests and making evidence-informed content, Ravi demonstrated his professional judgement and dedication to his role as a dental nurse.  

Other guidance 

Guidance on using social media (gdc-uk.org) 

Guidance on advertising (gdc-uk.org) 

Discussion points