Community Terms of Use

1. About Private Practice Circle

Welcome to Private Practice Circle.

Private Practice Circle is a professional community for medical secretaries, practice managers and administration professionals working across UK private practice.

The community exists to provide a place for members to connect, share knowledge and experiences, learn from one another and support their professional development.

By joining, accessing or participating in Private Practice Circle, you agree to follow these Community Terms of Use.

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2. Our Community

Private Practice Circle is built around four principles:

Connect. Learn. Develop. Grow.

We want the Circle to be a welcoming, professional and useful community where members feel comfortable asking questions, contributing to discussions and sharing their own knowledge and experience.

Members are expected to contribute in a way that supports this purpose.

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3. Membership

Membership is intended for medical secretaries, practice managers and administration professionals working within UK private practice.

Applications to join the community may be reviewed before membership is approved.

Private Practice Circle reserves the right to accept or decline a membership application where appropriate to maintain the purpose and relevance of the community.

Members are responsible for ensuring that the information provided when applying for membership is accurate.

Membership is personal to the individual who has registered and accounts should not be shared with another person.

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4. Professional and Respectful Conduct

Members must communicate with each other professionally and respectfully.

Different experiences, working practices and opinions are welcome, and constructive disagreement is part of a useful professional community. However, personal attacks, harassment, bullying, discriminatory behaviour, threatening behaviour or deliberately offensive content will not be accepted.

Members should remember that other members may work in different environments and that there may be more than one appropriate way of approaching a particular situation.

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5. Confidentiality and Patient Information

Confidentiality is particularly important within a community involving people working in healthcare.

Members must not share information that identifies, or could reasonably identify, a patient.

This includes names, dates of birth, addresses, contact details, NHS numbers, hospital numbers, photographs, screenshots, correspondence or combinations of information from which an individual could be identified.

Where discussing a situation for professional learning or seeking the experiences of other members, information should be appropriately anonymised and limited to what is necessary for the discussion.

Members should also take care not to disclose confidential or commercially sensitive information belonging to a healthcare professional, practice, clinic, hospital, employer, client or other organisation.

It is each member's responsibility to comply with their own professional, contractual and data protection obligations when participating in the community.

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6. Sharing Knowledge and Experience

Members are encouraged to ask questions, share experiences, exchange ideas and contribute useful information.

Information shared by members represents their own knowledge, experience and opinions.

Private Practice Circle does not verify every contribution made by members and cannot guarantee that information shared within community discussions is accurate, complete or suitable for another member's particular circumstances.

Members should use their own professional judgement and seek appropriate specialist advice where necessary.

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7. Professional, Legal, Financial and Other Advice

Private Practice Circle provides a platform for professional discussion and knowledge sharing. It does not provide legal, accounting, tax, regulatory, clinical or other professional advice.

Discussions within the community should not be relied upon as a substitute for advice from an appropriately qualified professional or relevant regulatory body.

Members remain responsible for decisions they make in relation to their own work, business, employment or the practices they support.

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8. Posts, Comments and Other Content

Content shared within Private Practice Circle should be relevant to the community and its members.

Members should not knowingly post information that is false, misleading, unlawful, defamatory or infringes another person's intellectual property or other rights.

When sharing material created by somebody else, members should ensure they have permission to do so or share a link to the original source where appropriate.

Members remain responsible for the content they contribute to the community.

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9. Commercial Promotion

Private Practice Circle is primarily a professional community rather than an advertising platform.

Relevant recommendations and discussions about products, services and suppliers are welcome where they genuinely contribute to a conversation.

Members should not repeatedly promote their own business, services or products, send unsolicited commercial messages to other members, or use the community primarily for lead generation.

Where a member has a commercial interest in something they recommend or promote, this should be made clear.

Private Practice Circle may introduce designated areas or opportunities for relevant business promotion as the community develops.

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10. Events and Opportunities

Members may be able to share relevant events, vacancies, freelance opportunities, training and other professional opportunities within designated areas of the community.

Members are responsible for the accuracy of information they post.

The inclusion of an event, opportunity, business, product or service within the community does not constitute endorsement by Private Practice Circle unless explicitly stated otherwise.

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11. Respecting Other Members' Privacy

Being part of the same community does not give members permission to use another member's personal information for unrelated purposes.

Contact information or other personal information obtained through Private Practice Circle should not be collected, copied, distributed, added to mailing lists or used for unsolicited marketing without the individual's permission.

Members should also respect conversations taking place within the community and exercise professional judgement before sharing community discussions outside the Circle.

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12. Moderation

Private Practice Circle may moderate posts, comments and other community content to help maintain a professional, relevant and supportive environment.

We reserve the right to edit, restrict, move or remove content that breaches these Terms of Use or is otherwise considered inappropriate for the community.

Where appropriate, a member may be contacted about their conduct before further action is taken.

However, serious breaches may result in content being removed or membership being suspended or terminated without prior warning.

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13. Suspension or Removal of Membership

Private Practice Circle reserves the right to suspend or remove a member where there has been a breach of these Terms of Use or where continued membership could adversely affect the community or its members.

This may include, but is not limited to:

• serious or repeated inappropriate behaviour;

• breaches of patient or professional confidentiality;

• harassment or discriminatory behaviour;

• misuse of member information;

• spam or persistent unsolicited promotion;

• deliberately misleading membership information; or

• unlawful use of the community.

Decisions about community membership are made at the discretion of Private Practice Circle.

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14. Community Platform

Private Practice Circle may use third-party platforms and services to provide community functionality, including Wix and its associated member applications.

Use of those platforms may also be subject to the relevant provider's own terms and policies.

We cannot guarantee that the community platform will always be available without interruption or that every feature will remain available indefinitely.

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15. Changes to the Community

Private Practice Circle is a developing community.

Features, groups, resources, membership arrangements and other aspects of the Circle may therefore change as the community develops.

Where significant changes affect these Terms of Use, the updated version will be made available to members.
 

16. Leaving the Community

Members may leave Private Practice Circle at any time.

Leaving the community does not necessarily remove content previously contributed to discussions where retaining that content is necessary to preserve the context and continuity of community conversations.

Requests concerning personal information should be made in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
 

17. Our Responsibility

Private Practice Circle aims to provide a useful and supportive professional community but cannot guarantee any particular outcome from membership.

To the extent permitted by law, Private Practice Circle is not responsible for decisions, actions or losses arising solely from reliance on information, recommendations or opinions shared by other community members.

Nothing in these Terms of Use excludes or limits any responsibility that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.
 

18. Changes to These Terms

These Community Terms of Use may be updated from time to time to reflect changes to the community, its services or applicable requirements.

The latest version will be published on the Private Practice Circle website.

Continued use of the community following an update will constitute acceptance of the revised Terms of Use.
 

19. Contact

If you have a question about these Community Terms of Use, community membership or something that has been posted within the Circle, please contact Private Practice Circle using the contact details provided on our website.