Communication during the COVID-19 crisis

Why is communication important?

Everybody will lose his job, no food is available any longer and there is a lack of toilet paper all over the country – in social media channels, you find a lot of information like this. Why? Everybody is insecure about the current situation and therefore, people speculate to explain the situation to themselves. How to avoid this? Clear communication and trusted communication channels are the answers. Give rumors no chance!

Why is internal communication important?

So, you have informed your guests? Great to hear that! Besides your guests, the internal communication with your employees is essential to avoid panic. This is the hardest part because nobody can predict exactly what will happen in the next days and it differs from country to country. However, nothing is worse than not communicating with your employees at all. 

This information aims to support registrants in understanding how to apply Standard two of the Standards of conduct, performance and ethics during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This standard requires registrants to communicate appropriately and effectively:

• with service users and careers;
• with colleagues; and
• on social media and networking sites.

Service users and careers

The Standards of conduct performance and ethics outline what registrants must do when communicating with service users and career:

2.1 You must be polite and considerate.

2.2 You must listen to service users and career and take account of their needs and wishes.

2.3 You must give service users and career the information they want or need, in a way they can understand.

2.4 You must make sure that, where possible, arrangements are made to meet service users’ and career’ language and communication needs.

There are a number of challenges you are likely to face in communicating with service users and career during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Service users and career will likely have heightened levels of anxiety and stress at this time, particularly if they have confirmed/suspected COVID-19. This may impact their ability to communicate appropriately with you, and is something you should be mindful of when engaging with them. This does not mean you should tolerate unacceptable abuse.
• Non-verbal communication (body language and tone) is an important part of exchanging information, and is often vital in establishing trust. Personal protective equipment (PPE) significantly reduces the ability for service users to see body language, in particular facial expression. You should be mindful of this when treating service users and, wherever possible, adapt your communication style appropriately.
• Many career and family members will not be able to be present with service users during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is likely you will need to update them remotely. Some of the advice in our High level principles for good practice in remote consultations and prescribing might be helpful in considering how to approach this. You can also get in touch with your professional body for further advice and support. You can find a list of professional   bodies on our website. 

Colleagues

The Standards of conduct performance and ethics indicate the requirements for registrants in communicating with colleagues:

2.5 You must work in partnership with colleagues, sharing your skills, knowledge and experience where appropriate, for the benefit of service users and career.

2.6 You must share relevant information, where appropriate, with colleagues involved in the care, treatment or other services provided to a service user.

These standards are important in practice given there are typically many instances where a service user moves from the care of one healthcare professional to another, sometimes with varying levels of education and occupational training.

Important information needs to be shared with colleagues to ensure continuity of care, and so collaboration and good record keeping are vital to ensuring patient safety isn’t compromised.

This is especially important during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Increased workloads and stress levels are likely to erode individuals’ ability to communicate well.

Furthermore, many former registrants and students will be working in the NHS to help manage the pandemic with varying levels of knowledge, skills and experience. Healthcare professionals need to support each other and work together through these challenges.

Social media and networking sites

social media has some clear benefits to health and care professionals. It helps develop individuals’ skills and knowledge, allows them to network with other professionals, helps the public understand what they do, and raises the profile of their profession. However, it is important that you use social media in a responsible way and follow the principles set out in our guidance.

During the COVID-19 pandemic it will be even more important to think before you post.

There is an increased interest in the social media outputs from healthcare professionals currently. It is important to make sure that any information you are sharing comes from a reputable source and is well informed.