Doctors trained to work for the NHS are told not to sext – or at least keep their faces out of explicit images.
New guidelines designed to help medics avoid legal penalties also urge junior doctors should stay off dating apps while at work.
The advice has been issued in a document entitled ‘Dating App Guidance for Doctors and Dentists in Training’.
Using apps like Tinder while at your workplace can “negatively influence” patients’ and colleagues’ opinions of you, the report said.
Such behavior also carries the risk of patients or colleagues creating ‘inappropriate communication’.
The NHS has issued official advice to its junior doctors, advising them not to have sex, send explicit images or videos of themselves
The NHS released the guidance through its Health Education England training arm, and includes advice on the use of data apps, sexting and doctor-patient relationships
Dr. Joanna Liberty, a doctor specializing in anesthesia and a pole dancing enthusiast from Brighton, said she feared the NHS advice would spell a slippery slope for other aspects of doctors’ private lives.
The advisory also warned against sending explicit images of any kind, warning that such content could be hacked and distributed much more widely than the sender intended.
It also warned against sending unsolicited photos is illegal and could bring doctors into conflict with the UK medical regulator.
Responding to the document from Health Education England – the training arm of the NHS – medics described it as ‘wary and sinister’. Others called it “infantilizing and ridiculous.”
NHS-approved dating advice to trainee dentists and doctors, called DDiTs in the document, involved identifying themselves on apps by their full name when they listed their profession in their profile.
“DDiTs must not misrepresent themselves and they must identify themselves by name as they must be prepared to justify their behavior,” it said.
The advisory also warned junior staff against sexting.
Sexting refers to sending nude photos or explicit images or videos of yourself to someone else.
The health service advised to ‘avoid sexting if possible’, but if doctors choose to do so they must ensure they follow a range of rules.
One of these was to ensure that they trust the recipient, to set rules about removing images before sending them and to always avoid having their face in the image as this could lead to them being identified if the images were to leak or be further transmitted.
Some doctors reacted angrily to the advice being issued.
Dr. Tom Mallinson, who works in Scotland, called it an “overreach of authority” on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
A cardiologist, who only gave the name Alex on their profile, added: ‘This is a total shame. I’m ashamed of HEE – terrible, infantilizing and ridiculous.’
Dr. Linda Dykes, a doctor specializing in emergency medicine and general practice from the West Midlands, was also critical of the guidance.
She said: ‘What happened to the right to a private life… enshrined in the Human Rights Act?
‘Taking the standard safety advice for online dating and slapping a label on it that says ‘for doctors in training’ sounds circumspect or sinister.’
Dr. Joanna Liberty, a doctor specializing in anesthesia and a pole dancing enthusiast from Brighton, said she feared the NHS advice would spell a slippery slope for other aspects of doctors’ private lives.
“We’re waiting for the day when HEE decides that their puritanical moral standards should extend to our hobbies as well as our dating lives,” she wrote.
Other medics, such as cardiologist Alex, condemned the NHS advice for treating medical professionals like children
Dr. Tom Mallinson from the Scottish Highlands simply called the NHS dating guidance an ‘overreach of authority’
Dr. Linda Dykes, a doctor specializing in emergency medicine and general practice from the West Midlands, questioned how the advice respected doctors’ right to a private life, adding that the guidance sounded “cautious or sinister”.
NHS England was contacted for comment.
The advice recognizes that clinicians, especially lower-level staff, often face challenges in balancing their work and dating.
“All doctors and dentists lead busy lives with hectic schedules,” it said.
‘This could have a negative impact on their social and romantic lives and is likely to affect younger colleagues as well.’
But Andrea James, a lawyer who advises doctors who may be referred to the UK medical regulators, said people would be surprised at how many cases, known as ‘Fitness to Practice’ or ‘FtP’, are caused by medics ‘d*** -send photos’. ‘
Other clinicians such as Dr Philip Lee, a consultant in London specializing in aged care, mocked the NHS’s Health Education England training for the new guidelines
However, it warned that doctors could risk their careers by acting inappropriately, with such cases being referred to medical regulators, who could suspend or even remove staff.
“Issues with the behavior of doctors on dating apps have been investigated by the General Medical Council,” it said.
Commenting on the publication, Andrea James, a lawyer specializing in medical regulatory proceedings such as Fitness to Practice (FtP) cases, said such guidance could be useful.
“People think I’m joking when I mention this in FtP talks, but an astonishing number of our FtP cases actually come from d*** photos,” she wrote.