How NHS Essex uses social media
NHS Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) uses social media to communicate clearly, quickly, and effectively with people who use our services and are interested in our work. Social media helps us share important information, promote health campaigns, and engage with our communities.
All official NHS Essex social media accounts display verified badges. These badges confirm that the account is authentic and operated by our organisation. If you see accounts that attempt to replicate our name, branding, or services, you should not treat them as trusted sources of information.
These social media house rules and moderation guidelines help ensure our social media channels remain safe, respectful, and supportive spaces.
Our social media channels
These social media house rules apply to all official NHS Essex social media channels, including:
- Nextdoor
- YouTube
These platforms provide opportunities for you to ask questions, share feedback, and engage with NHS Essex.
Moderation guidelines
We moderate comments and messages to ensure our social media channels remain respectful and safe. We review content regularly and may remove comments that break these social media house rules.
Moderation does not aim to suppress legitimate discussion, criticism, or complaints. However, we may remove content that is inappropriate, unlawful, or harmful.
Examples of inappropriate content include:
- offensive, abusive, or threatening comments
- hate speech or discrimination based on race, religion, gender, sexuality, or other personal characteristics
- sharing personal information such as addresses, phone numbers, or email addresses
- spam or repeated messages that disrupt discussion
- impersonating another person or organisation
- unlawful content, including libel or copyright infringement
- advertising unrelated commercial products or services
- naming individual NHS Essex staff members
If we remove content, we will try to explain why. Repeated breaches of these social media house rules may result in users being blocked or banned.
We may also remove, report, or block users who:
- encourage harmful or abusive behaviour
- use offensive usernames or profile images
- repeatedly break these guidelines
Content we share
We use social media to share information relevant to NHS Essex and our partner organisations. This may include:
- guidance on accessing NHS services
- links to NHS news, blogs, videos, and health information
- public health campaigns and service updates
- links to relevant external information
- insights, statistics, and information about our work
Sometimes, we re-share content from other organisations. However, re-sharing content does not imply endorsement.
Similarly, following other social media accounts does not imply endorsement. We follow accounts relevant to healthcare, public health, and our work.
Availability and responses
We monitor and update our social media accounts during office hours, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, excluding bank holidays. However, we may occasionally respond outside these hours.
Although we read all messages, we cannot always respond to every comment due to volume. If your enquiry is urgent, please use other NHS contact methods.
We cannot provide medical advice on social media. If you have a medical concern, please contact your GP or NHS 111.
Handling personal information
We may request personal information through direct messages to help resolve enquiries. However, social media platforms operate under their own privacy policies. Therefore, you should avoid sharing sensitive personal information publicly.
If you contact us on behalf of someone else, we may need their consent before discussing their information.
Complaints, media enquiries, and information requests
For complaints, media enquiries, or Freedom of Information requests, please use our official contact channels. This ensures your enquiry is handled appropriately.
Staff use of social media
Some NHS Essex staff use personal social media accounts. Their views represent their own opinions and do not reflect the official position of NHS Essex.
Accessibility
We aim to make our social media content accessible to everyone. For example, we:
- add image descriptions where possible
- use CamelCase in hashtags
- add subtitles to videos
These steps help ensure our content is accessible to people using assistive technologies.
Privacy
NHS Essex is committed to protecting your privacy. We may use analytics tools to understand engagement and improve our communications. These tools help us identify trends and improve how we share information.
You can read our privacy policy to learn more about how we protect personal information.
Reporting concerns
If you see content that appears to break these social media house rules, please report it.
Email: [email protected]
Alternatively, you can contact us through the relevant social media platform.
We review all reports carefully and take appropriate action where necessary.