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Code of Conduct for Private Hospitals and Private Health Clinics
1.
Introduction
1.1
Operators of the independent private healthcare
facilities are required to comply with the Advertisement Codes. The Codes allow
advertisement by operators of Private Health Facilities so that the public can
have a better understanding of services and options available, and hence, make
informed choices in healthcare. However, such information provided by owners of
independent private health facilities should not induce unnecessary consumption
of healthcare services or create unrealistic expectation of the services provided.
1.2
These codes aim to elucidate the broad
principles set out in the Advertisement Law and should be read in conjunction
with the Codes. The examples highlighted in these Guidelines are not exhaustive
and thus shall not be regarded as so. The codes may be updated periodically and
all independent private hospitals and clinics are expected to be familiar with
these codes and laws.
1.3
Operators of Independent Private
Hospitals and Health Clinics are responsible and will be held accountable for
all advertisements associated with their facilities, and hence they are advised
to adhere to these Guidelines. Whether the operator abides by these Guidelines
may be taken into account in determining his compliance with the Health
Advertisement Codes.
2.
Explanatory notes relating to Content and Manner of
Advertisement
2.1 “Advertisement” as defined in Code
2 means any form of publicity and includes any advertisement —
(a) Printed in any medium for the
communication of information;
(b) Appearing in, communicated through
or retrievable from, any mass medium, whether electronic or otherwise; or
(c) Contained in any medium for
communication produced or for use by a healthcare institution.
The definition of advertisement is broad
and includes any form of publicity in any medium.
2.2 Subject to these Codes and to any
other written law, the operator of a healthcare facility may publicize or cause
to be publicized the services of the healthcare facility.” This simply means
that healthcare facilities may publicize their services and such publicity
would be subject to the Healthcare Advertising Codes and any other written law
where applicable.
“Services”
of
the Health Facility, in the context of Code 3, would mean any healthcare
service such as medical clinic service, hospital service, nursing home service,
laboratory service, as well as more detailed activities that define each service
such as consultation, treatment, provision/application of any procedure,
product, device or practice.
“Advertisement of services”
would mean any advertisement that reflects any of the services offered/
provided by the Health facility. This includes the mentioning of the name, logo
and/or motto of the healthcare institution that includes words denoting the
functional service e.g. ‘XYZ Medical Clinic’ denotes a medical clinic service,
‘ABC Hospital’ denotes a hospital service, etc.
2.3
“The
information contained in the advertisement must be factually accurate and
capable of being substantiated, and must not be exaggerated, false, misleading
or deceptive.”
2.3.1
“Capable of being substantiated” in relation to claims published in a
Health facility’s advertisement
is defined as having explicit evidence that substantiates the publicized
claims. Any claim that cannot be independently substantiated at the point of
publicity, that is, does not have substantiating evidence or its relevant
references published alongside the claims, shall not be publicized.
2.3.2
“Evidence”
in
the above context of “capable of being substantiated” refers to substantiating
information of a credible source. The level of credibility accepted by Ministry
of Health (MOH) shall be information reported in articles published in
peer-reviewed journals listed in PubMed (for medical/ dental fields) or recognized
by the local medical/ dental community as credible.
2.3.3
“capable of being substantiated” in relation to claims/ information
about a registered healthcare professional is defined as having fulfilled the
following conditions:
(a)
The
consent of the professional has been obtained;
(b)
The
content has been vetted and verified by the professional; and
(c)
The
credentials/ qualifications of the professional to be published are recognized
by a bona fide, local professional registration body.
2.3.4
The operator of the Health Facility
shall not publicize the following claims/ information as they are deemed as not
“capable of being substantiated”
at the point of publicity:
(a)
Any
claim on output/ volume or speed of service;
(b)
Any
claim on uniqueness of service/ Health Facilty;
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(c)
Any claim on services that have low or
no evidence of effectiveness, or not generally accepted by peer healthcare
professionals; and
(d)
Any claim on an award/ achievement,
unless such award/ achievement is recognized by MOH (e.g. awards granted by
Government or Statutory Body in Uganda, JCI accreditation, ISO). Featuring unrecognized
award/ achievement in Health Facility’s publicity is also deemed as “misleading” the public.
“The
publicity must not be offensive, ostentatious or in bad taste such as to
undermine the honor and dignity of the medical, dental or nursing profession.”
2.4.1
Advertisement that is considered “ostentatious” would include, but not
limited to, the following:
(a)
Any photo showing a person performing a
procedure or administering a treatment;
(b)
Any
photo of a doctor, dentist or nurse exceeding ‘passport’ size
(i.e.
35mm wide by 45mm high);
(c)
Any photo of a celebrity/ media figure
(with/ without explicitly identifying the celebrity/ media figure);
(d)
Healthy Facilities creating/ maintaining
websites in a manner that attracts undue public’s attention (e.g. A Health
Facility having multiple websites with similar contents).
2.4.2
Advertisement that is considered “in bad taste” would include, but not
limited to, the following:
(a)
Any content featuring obscene or
repulsive pictures or words, or having sexual/ indecent connotations;
(b)
Any content featuring/ implying
association between the medical service/ profession and any non-medical/
non-dental service (except for other mainstream healthcare services such as
allied health services, pharmacy and optometry) or any traditional, complementary
or alternative health care service/ practice;
(c)
Any content featuring/ implying
endorsement by the Health Institution of an entity/ person that is not a
licensed Health Institution or any service provided by such other person;
(d)
Any content featuring a service that is
not provided in local mainstream medicine;
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2.4.3
Any information pertaining to registered
doctors, dentists or nurses that does not comply with the respective code of
conduct and ethical guidelines (e.g. Medical and Dental Practitioners Ethical
Code and Ethical Guidelines, Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct for
nurses and midwives, etc) would be deemed as “undermining the honor and dignity of the medical, dental or nursing
profession”.
2.4.4
For avoidance of doubt about publicizing
information that could be deemed as “undermining
the honor and dignity of the medical, dental or nursing profession”,
Health Facilities are strongly advised to restrict publicity information of a
registered doctor, dentist or nurse to the following:
(a)
His
name;
(b)
His
registered professional qualification;
(c)
His displayable qualifications, i.e.
qualifications accepted and recognized for display by the relevant professional
bodies (if any);
(d)
His
title reflecting the register(s) in which he is registered;
(e)
His
title or designation at the Health Facilities;
(f)
Where necessary, his photograph not
exceeding ‘passport’ size (i.e. 35mm wide by 45mm high).
2.5
“The publicity must not contain any
information that (i) implies that the healthcare institution can obtain results
from treatment not achievable by other healthcare institutions or create an
unjustified expectation from the treatment provided; or (ii) compares and
contrasts the quality of the services of the healthcare institution with those
provided by other healthcare institutions or deprecate the services of other
healthcare institutions.”
2.5.1
A Health Facility shall not feature
“before and after” treatment pictures/videos/ information or only “after”
treatment pictures/videos/information in their publicity. Such
pictures/videos/information “create an
unjustified expectation from the treatment provided” as they pertain
only to anecdotal cases, and not all patients will see the same results after
treatment.
A Health
Facility shall not advertise/ publicize that its services can bring about
results within a certain time period or within a specified number of sessions
(e.g. “instant/ immediate teeth whitening”, “botox in 5 minutes”, “straight
teeth in 2 weeks”, “see results after 1 treatment session”,
“accurate diagnosis for the first time”). Such information may “create an
unjustified expectation from the treatment provided” as not all patients
undergoing the services provided can achieve the same results after the stated
time period.
2.5.3
Any pictures/videos/information implying
(with/ without descriptions) that a person is/ will be healthier or less ill,
aesthetically better or in a better state of general well-being after receiving
the Health Facility’s services.
2.5.4
The operator of the Health Facility
shall not feature any celebrity/ media figure (with/ without identifying the
celebrity/ media figure) in their publicity materials as this would amount to
creating an unjustified expectation for the services provided by the Health
Facility, which is a contravention of the Codes.
2.6
“The publicity must not contain any
laudatory statements (including statements of prominence or uniqueness) or
superlatives to describe the services of the Healthcare Institution.”
2.6.1
Words/ statements that are considered “laudatory” would include, but not
limited to, the following:
(a)
“best”
(b)
“first”
(c)
“only”
2.6.2
For avoidance of doubt about publicizing
information that are contravening Codes, Health Facilities are strongly advised
to limit their publicity to information.
2.7
“The
information contained in the publicity must not contain any testimonial or
endorsement of the services, including the services of any employee of the
healthcare institution.”
2.7.1
“Testimonial
or endorsement” in this context would include, but is
not limited to, any compliment, accolade or positive assessment given by any
person regarding the Health Facility’s services.
2.7.2
The operator of the Health Facility
shall not publicize any person’s testimonial or endorsement about the Health
Facility, its staff or services in any form of media unless its availability is
restricted to within the premises of the Health Facility and not accessible to
the general public outside of the Health Facility’s premises in the normal
course of events.
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The operator of the Health Facility
that advertises/ publicize its information on social media (e.g. Facebook,
Twitter) shall ensure that the advertising media does not contain any
person’s “testimonial or
endorsement” about the Health Facility’s services.
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2.7.4
The operator of the Health Facility shall
not, in its publicity materials, feature links to third party websites/
advertising platforms containing any person’s testimonial or endorsement about
the Health Facility’s services (e.g. newspapers, forum, blogs). Any linkage
found between a Health Facility’s publicity and any media featuring such
testimonial or endorsement would be deemed as equivalent to the Health Facility
publicizing testimonials or endorsement directly in its publicity, which is a
contravention of Code.
2.7.5
The operator of the Health Facility shall
not feature any celebrity/ media figure (with/ without identifying the
celebrity/ media figure) in their publicity materials as this would amount to
endorsement of the Health Facility, its staff or services, which is a
contravention of the Code.
2.7.6
Ratings/ rankings
of Health Facilities in
third party websites
are deemed as
“endorsement” of the Health Facilities’
services and publishing of “user experiences” would be considered as
testimonials.
2.8
“The advertisement must not provide
information to the public in such a manner as to amount to soliciting or
encouraging the use of the services provided by or at any healthcare
institution.”
2.8.1 Examples of content or manner of
publicity that amount to “soliciting
or encouraging the use of the Health Facility’s services” would include, but not limited to, the following:
(a)
“Before and after” or only “after”
treatment photos. Such photos shall not be featured even with the presence of
disclaimers as it is not possible to guarantee that the disclaimer would fully neutralize
the inducement effect of the photos on every prospective patient.
(b)
“Usual” and “now” prices, or “usual” and
“package” prices, or solely “usual” prices or “Package prices” for the
same/group of services in the same publicity. A Health Facility shall only list
the exact price for its packages/ services without indicating any prefix/
description to the price, and without a comparative listing of the prices.
(c)
Phrases such as “as low as” or “lowest
prices”, or similar words when advertising prices for the Health Facility’s
services, or stating an installment amount for the Health Facility’s services
without stating the total cost.
(d)
Period for which the fee/ charge is
applicable (i.e. validity period) or the number of patients entitled to that
fee/ charge or indicating that the services in a package has to be
availed/completed within a specified period.
(e)
Any service or item provided at/ by the Health
Facility free of charge or at lower cost than usual, in connection with any
service of the Health Facility being publicized.
(f)
Phrases
such as "discounts", "interest free", "preferential
rates",
“promotions”,
“offer”, “complimentary”, "free".
(g)
Information that promises or suggests
that the services can bring about results within a certain time period (e.g.
“Instant/ immediate teeth whitening”, “botox in 5 minutes”, “straight teeth in
2 weeks”).
(h)
Any publicity in group buying websites
or websites that offer lower pricing than usual through collective group
buying.
(i)
Any publicity that relates to
promotions/ events which involves the giving away of souvenirs, promotional
coupons, vouchers, lucky draws and sales campaigns.
2.9
For avoidance of doubt about committing
an offence under Code 4(1), Health Facilities are strongly advised to limit
their publicity to the following information:
(a)
The name, logo, address, website address
and contact details of the healthcare institution;
(b)
The
operating hours of the healthcare institution;
(c)
A
listing of the services provided by the healthcare institution;
(d)
The following details in respect of any
registered healthcare professional providing such services at the healthcare
institution:
(i)
His
name;
(ii)
His registered professional
qualification;
(iii)
His title(s) reflecting the register(s)
in which he is registered;
(iv)
His displayable qualification i.e.
qualifications accepted and recognized for display by the relevant professional
bodies (if any);
(v)
His title or designation at the
healthcare institution;
(vi)
His photograph, not exceeding ‘passport’
size (35mm wide by 45mm high);
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(e)
The actual fees and charges, and the
accepted mode of payment, for the services provided by the healthcare
institution.
3.
Explanatory notes relating to Advertising Media
3.1
“The operator of a healthcare
institution shall ensure that any publicity of the services of the healthcare
institution appears only in newspapers, directories, medical journals,
magazines, brochures, leaflets, pamphlets and the Internet.”
3.1.1
The operator of the Health Facility shall
not publicize information on their services through SMS, billboard, light box,
digital media box, LCD/ LED panels, banner, poster or any other media that is
not listed in the Code 5(1).
3.1.2
New media such as YouTube, Facebook and
Blogs are considered as Internet. As such, publicity of Health Facility’s service
on such media is allowed, but it will be subject to the requirements in the Advertising
Codes.
3.1.3
The operators of the Health Facilities
shall ensure that their publicity in brochures, leaflets or pamphlets contain
the date of publication.
3.2
The
following are not subject to the list of advertising media in Code
5(1):
(a)
Directional signboard, which shall
contain only the name/ logo of the Health Facility with/without the telephone
number and with/without the operating hours, and directional sign.
(b)
Directory, which shall contain only the
name/ logo of the Health Facility with/ without unit number, with/without the
telephone number and with/without the operating hours of the Health Facility,
and featured together with information on all other services in a building.
(c)
Information of the Health Facility’s
services communicated to individual patients within its licensed premises
during the individual’s medical/ dental consultation with the doctor/dentist.
(d)
Listing of the practitioners’
information, the Health Facility’s opening hours, the Health Facility’s contact
information and/ or the Health Facility’s services on the Health Facility’s
fixture (i.e. entrance or exit doors, walls, windows).
(e)
Signboard of the Health Facility, which
contains only the name/ logo of the Health Facility with/ without unit number
of the Health Facility and sited at the entrance or exit of the Health
Facility’s fixture.
(f)
Signboard of the Health Facility, which
contains only the name/ logo of the Health Facility with/ without unit number
of the Health Facility, placed at the exterior of a building to inform the
public of the Health Facility’s existence in the building or the function of
the building (e.g. a hospital building)
(g)
Information provided in an interview by
the operator or employee of the Health Facility. Further clarifications on
providing interviews are set out at paragraph 6.
(h)
Information reported by any mainstream
media agency as part of an independent news report that is not initiated or
sponsored by the Health Facility.
3.3
Should any of the above contain
information other than what is stipulated, it would be subject to the Health
Advertising Codes. If the media used is not listed in Code 5(1), it would be
considered as a breach of Code 5(1).
4. Explanatory guidelines relating to
advertisement of Health
Facilities in conjunction with advertisement
of public workshops, etc.
4.1 The operator of a Health Facility
may publicize educational events such as workshops, seminars or talks. This
section is intended to guide Health Facilities on what would be considered as
publicity of the Health Facility while they conduct publicity of public
workshop, seminar, symposium or similar events (hereby referred to as
“educational events”) organized by them.
4.2
If the publicity of an educational event
or the actual educational event includes the publicity of any Health Facility and/or
its services in whatever form, it would be considered as publicity of the Health
Facility and subject to both Code 4(1) and Code 5.
4.3
Educational events are not considered
patient care services and should not be co-located in medical clinics and
patient care areas in the hospitals.
4.4
The guideline provided in this section
would not apply to publicity of workshop, seminar, symposium or similar events
that are wholly intended to educate registered healthcare professionals and not
for attendance by ordinary members of the public.
4.5
For avoidance of doubt about committing
an offence under the Codes for the publicity of the Health Facility during such
events, the operators of the Health Facilities are strongly advised to limit
their publicity of public workshop, etc. to the following information:
(a)
The
title and synopsis;
(b)
Specified
information of the speakers:
(i)
Their
names;
(iii)
Their title(s) reflecting the
register(s) in which they are registered;
(iv)
Their displayable qualifications, i.e.
qualifications accepted and recognized for display by the relevant professional
bodies (if any);
(v)
The
names of the places at which they work
(vi)
Photographs not exceeding ‘passport’
size (35mm wide by 45mm high);
(c)
The
programme and timing;
(d)
The
venue and contact information for the workshop;
(e)
The actual fees and charges, the period
for which the fees and charges are applicable, and the accepted mode of
payment;
(f)
The
names of the organizers and sponsors.
5.
General guidelines on advertisement in conjunction
with any person
5.1
The operator of the Health Facility may
have contractual agreements with any club/ society/ company so as to provide
preferred rates or special treatment packages to members of the club/ society/
company. However, the advertisement for such arrangements to the members of the
club/ society/ company must adhere to the Health Advertisement Codes, and in
particular, in compliance with the provisions set out in Code 4(1) and Code
5(1).
5.2
The operator of the Health Facility may
engage the services of an advertising company or a third party to publish
information on their services. However, the operator is required to ensure that
the advertisement complies with the provisions of the Health Advertisements
Codes.
6.
General guidelines on providing information through
interviews
6.1
The operator or employee of a Health
Facility may, at the request of any print or broadcast media organization,
consent to be interviewed. The operator shall ensure that any information
provided in an interview by him or an employee of the Health Facility which
relates to any publicity of the Health Facility’s services complies with Code
4(1).
6.2
The operator of the Health Facility
shall be responsible for the contents of the interviews published and must
ensure that the published contents are not in breach of any provisions under Code
4(1).
7.1
The operator of the Health Facility may
advertise or promote their services outside Uganda but it should comply with
the relevant laws including advertising rules of that country. Such publicity
will not be subject to the provisions of the Health Advertisement Codes.
7.2
If advertisements conducted outside Uganda
are accessible, in the normal course of events, to the general public in Uganda
(e.g. Internet), it will be subject to the provisions of the Health
Advertisement Codes.
8.
Responsibilities of the Health Facility Operator
8.1
It is the operator’s responsibility to
ensure that the style and content of the Health Facility publicity, and the
manner in which the Health Facility’s publicity is conducted, comply with the
provisions of these Codes.
8.2
The operator of the Health Facility
shall take all reasonable steps to procure the rectification or withdrawal of
any publicity relating to the services of the Health Facility which contravenes
any provision of these Codes, and prevent its recurrence.
8.3
If the operator of an Health Facility has
published any advertisement or caused any advertisement to be published in
contravention of any provision of these Codes, the Director may, after making
due inquiry into the matter, order the licensee of the healthcare institution
to alter, withdraw, remove or discontinue the publicity or cause the same to be
altered withdrawn, removed or discontinued. The term “alter” in this context would include amendment of the offending
publicity by the Health Facility responsible so as to enable the public to see
the corrected publicity.
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