Beyond healthcare

How was it?

It was a little overwhelming. It took a while to understand the NHS Twitter is where people would like to have a window into your life. They want to know what you are planning, doing and thinking. It is different to the way that you would use your own Twitter account. You have to follow guidelines for putting content on social media such as that produced by the Royal College of Gps, but that wasn’t too onerous.

I don’t think that the tweets are an accurate reflection of the workload in general practice. Eg on Monday I worked from 0800 – 2000, a telephone triage and Skype clinic lasting 4 hours and a normal clinic lasting 3.5 hours. Also, 2 home visits as well as administrative duties including prescriptions, reviewing blood test results, letters and making referrals. I didn’t have lunch until around 3 pm which I had at my desk. I didn’t see the children when I got home at 2100 when I carried on with administrative duties.

It was hard to message on the NHS Twitter account. I couldn’t share any patient information which could lead to them being identified. I was keen to share the positive aspects of general practice, rather than the challenges which are well documented. With hindsight, I could have just done very short tweets to update followers as they appeared to be interested.

I was pretty apprehensive initially, given the size of the audience and worried about the reaction. There were a lot of negative media comments about GPs on the day before I became a curator. However, NHS Twitter users have been amazingly supportive and engaging. As a result, I grew in confidence towards the end of the week. Learnt lots from the audience. I now will have regular breaks, improve my diet and do the Couch to 5K.