From data breaches and hacks, through to regulatory - and even criminal - incidents and investigations. Unfortunately, the healthcare sector is not immune from this.
Even with the best of intentions, these kinds of crisis events can sometimes be unavoidable. However one of the key factors in successfully navigating your way through a crisis event is how you handle and manage your communications.
In this article we share our five top tips on how to manage your practice's communications in a crisis:
If your practice is approached by the press or media for comment, do not be pressured into making a statement on the spot, even if you are only given a very short timescale for responding.
It is also almost never a good idea to refuse to comment, as this could be misinterpreted.
Instead, take the time to carefully prepare a statement that is short and factually accurate. If you are anticipating enquiries from the press then you could even prepare some wording in advance, although this will of course need to be very carefully reviewed and adapted before being used to respond to enquiries.
It is vital that everyone in your practice is on message, and that there is one consistent line of communication. Ensure that only designated, appropriate individuals within your practice are tasked with dealing with the press etc. Make sure that all of your staff know to send any press enquiries to them if they are approached directly. This will help to ensure that all of your communications are consistent, accurate and up to date.
If the police or other authorities are already involved, ensure you work with them when making any statements. This is particularly important when the incident involves potential criminal activity, as you should avoid saying or doing anything that could prejudice any criminal investigation.
You should not feel like you need to give a detailed response to any initial press enquiries, particularly when the crisis is still unfolding and you do not necessarily know all of the facts. If you say something that later turns out to be untrue or inaccurate then it can be difficult to publicly backtrack for this and may open you up to criticism. It could also impact on any subsequent legal proceedings brought against the practice if the incident is serious enough to result in those.
If a crisis involves particular individuals, such as patients or employees for example, then you should also ensure statements do not include any details that could amount to a breach of any data protection or confidentiality obligations. This will avoid creating further issues for the practice.
Depending on what the crisis involves, you may be under an obligation to notify regulators, such as the CQC or Information Commissioners Office. Even if something does not appear to be notifiable at the outset you should keep this under careful review and bear in mind that it will generally be much better for regulators to be notified of incidents by you rather than have them find out about the incident from the press or third parties.
You will also want to ensure that patients, staff and other key stakeholders are kept up to date as appropriate. Clearly your communications will need to be tailored accordingly for each audience, but the key is to ensure that all communications are consistent to avoid conflicting or confusing messages.
You should also consider whether you need to notify your insurers. This is particularly important if the matter is something that could result in a claim (or claims) being brought against your practice: you will usually be required to let your insurers know about any circumstances which could give rise to a claim, and failure to do so could lead to any cover you do have being withdrawn. You may also have cover for specialist PR or crisis communications advice for example, or cybersecurity cover which may apply to data breach incidents.
If you are not sure what insurance your practice has you could check this now, so that you know exactly who to contact if an urgent crisis does arise. Your broker (if you have one) should also be able to help with this.
When a crisis does arise you will almost certainly have very little time to get your house in order. However there are some steps you could take now to ensure that your practice is as prepared as it can be to deal with a crisis if one does arise: