British Liver Trust Community Guidelines- UPDATED

Hi all,

Please note that HealthUnlocked has updated it's terms of reference today here;

support.healthunlocked.com/...

The most important changes are;

The minimum age will now be 18 years in order to comply with the new legislation from the Information Commissioner's Office

b. Update of “Acceptable Use” section, where we have clarified what is expected from users and content

c. New definition of what a community is

d. Clearer information about registering as a user

e. Update of our registered company name and new postal address

Please also note;

'Our Site’s Content, the Service, or any content on other sites linked to from Our Site, is never a substitute for professional medical advice'

We ask all members to read the HealthUnlocked guidelines and below are the British Liver Trust additional guidelines.

Thanks.

Welcome to the British Liver Trust Support Forum for adults with liver conditions

Thank you for joining our community. The British Liver Trust through HealthUnlocked (HU) facilitates peer to peer support for anyone, their families’ friends and carers, affected by any liver condition or anyone concerned that they could be at risk of developing a liver condition.

Whether you are an individual who has been diagnosed, a carer, family member, or friend, we hope you find this community a safe and supportive place for you to share your experiences and find information and support.

This community is moderated by the British Liver Trust and HealthUnlocked.

The British Liver Trust community is part of HealthUnlocked, a network of health communities from a range of organisations and charities. By using HealthUnlocked (HU) you are accepting these posting guidelines and agree to HealthUnlocked’s site Guidelines and Terms of Use. Members of the British Liver Trust community should please read HU’s Guidelines together with the British Liver Trust Community Guidelines outlined below.

HU Community Guidelines: support.healthunlocked.com/...

HU Terms of Use: healthunlocked.com/policies...

British Liver Trust Community Guidelines

The British Liver Trust Community Guidelines are detailed below and are aimed at creating and maintaining a safe and supportive community for all of our members. Some of HU’s guidelines may also be repeated here.

Professional Health Information:

The British Liver Trust community strives to provide useful, up-to-date information on matters of concern to members of the community affected by or at risk of a liver condition. The information posted on this site should not be used as a means of diagnosis, determining treatment, nor replace the relationship between you, your doctors and other healthcare professionals. For diagnosis and treatment options, you should always first consult your doctor.

In this respect the British Liver Trust asks that users do NOT post any test results or ask for specific comment on such. Test results vary according to both the individual’s whole health and the laboratory analysing the results and should therefore always be interpreted by the users own doctors.

Please do not post photographs of test results or any part of your body and ask for medical assessment from the forum. It is very important that you discuss any concerns with your own doctors and medical teams for safe advice.

Community Atmosphere:

The British Liver Trust aims to provide a community that is a safe, supportive, informative, and friendly community for people affected by or at risk of a liver condition.

The British Liver Trust community is not a place to create negative impressions about identifiable individuals. Negative and damaging references to identifiable individuals will be edited or deleted either by a British Liver Trust community administrator or by HealthUnlocked. We ask that all users respect the right of other members to present their individual health experiences, regardless of whether or not they are in agreement, and that all disagreements will be expressed considerately and with compassion for all those involved.

Participation in this community should always be with respect, honesty and in the spirit of supporting and learning from fellow users.

Please note that while the British Liver Trust is a United Kingdom organisation, members can be located worldwide. As such, details on medications, treatment protocols, healthcare, insurance, and other related topics may differ widely.

Posting Content (Posts/Questions/Replies/Private Messages):

Content posted by individual members does not represent the views of The British Liver Trust or HealthUnlocked.

Posting content on this community is taken as your agreement to only post information that is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge, and is primarily drawn from personal experience. You are encouraged to post content about your own experience (or that of a loved one), ask questions, and offer support and advice.

Content should never be abusive, derogatory, sexually explicit or suggestive, contain offensive language or be deliberately misleading. If you believe someone else’s content violates this rule, please report it via the “Report Abuse” option or via the “Feedback” button. Content that is felt to violate this policy will either be edited or removed. All feedback reports are read by moderators and it is their judgement on what action, if any, is taken.

Although we will always do our best to safeguard all users of the service neither the British Liver Trust nor HealthUnlocked is responsible for any offence or injury that a member may draw from another member’s content.

Any content posted on this community can be read, used, reproduced, and cited by other users of the site. You have the option to delete content you posted.

Generally our policy is not to allow people to refer, promote or direct people to websites other than our own. The exception is Government sites; NHS sites such as NHS Choices or other trusted registered charity sites that we know have met information standards and are accredited. Links to useful time specific news items or research may be permitted subject to moderator discretion.

Users are asked NOT to post anything mentioning specific doctors or health care professionals by name as there could be legal implications for the author of the post and the forum should that post develop into something contentious or libellous.

To avoid confusion or the misleading of other users we ask users not to display any medical or clinical qualifications or titles in their username/posts.

Moderating Content:

Content posted on this community is moderated by the British Liver Trust and HealthUnlocked.

Moderation helps maintain a safe, positive environment for all members of the community. Content posted outside of these guidelines may be edited or removed to ensure that the community remains supportive and responsive for all members.

The community is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Moderation occurs after posting and generally during normal office hours.

To ensure the community continues to be a safe environment for all users any content that discusses or could potentially provoke suicidal thoughts or self-harm may be removed without notifying the poster.

If the moderators feel someone is at risk of immediate harm, or of harming others, then the British Liver Trust will report concerns to the relevant outside agency. All information passed on will only be on a need to know basis.

Alternative Therapies and Solicitations:

Please note that the British Liver Trust does not endorse or recommend any specific products, services, therapies, or activities mentioned by any third party (individual or company).

The British Liver Trust does not recommend the use of any homoeopathic or herbal remedies for those with any liver problems as these may damage the liver and lead to severe illness. For more information on this subject please visit the following page on our website: britishlivertrust.org.uk/li...

For the safety of all users posts actively promoting the purchase of specific treatments or alternative therapies may be removed without notifying the poster.

Online Safety:

In this community, there may be a wide range of health-related issues discussed and the sharing of personal experiences.

Please note that the British Liver Trust community is an open site, meaning that any posts are searchable by internet search engines and can be shared via social media platforms. If you would rather your content was not searchable or shareable, you can select the visibility status of your post as visible to “Only followers in my community” before you click submit.

For your own safety, we strongly recommend you do NOT disclose personal information such as your full name, email address, home address, telephone number, or any other information which could directly or indirectly identify you.

For more information on general online safety guidelines we suggest visiting: ico.org.uk/for-the-public/o...