Consent for case studies and photography

How to get consent for a case study or photography

Whether it's for social media, your website or publications, an emotive case study and a great photo can catch people's attention and engage your audience.

It's important that you make sure the people in your case studies and photos understand where and how the resource will be used by collecting their written permission. 

You can use the case study and photography consent form below to get people's permission.

Guidance on using Healthwatch England photography

What support is available?

You may not always be able to use your own photography. We carry out regular photoshoots with the public and in health and care services so you can use free, high-quality photos in your work. Visit our photo library.

What does our consent form state?

To be photographed, members of the public are asked to sign a consent form. This makes clear that our network will use the photos to promote Healthwatch. But it also makes clear that if someone withdraws their consent or we no longer have a reason to use an image, we won't use it any new publications or materials.

Our policy changed in 2024 to be in line with CQC's policy. Consent for photos we took before this expires after five years.

We make clear that images may still appear on existing publications and materials because the photos were used within the window of consent in accordance with GDPR, and had a lawful basis for us using them. This could be in old reports/news stories, past social media posts, or backdated collateral.

What should you do when the right to use an image has ended?

When we can no longer use an image going forward, we remove it from:

• The photo library, so the image is no longer available to use
• Current pages on our website (e.g. landing pages), as well as the Communications Centre
• Other social media and communications systems where the image may be stored (such as Facebook Ads Manager, Canva library, MailChimp library, Eventbrite, personal drives etc.)

What if someone withdraws consent?

If an individual actively revokes their consent, we do our best to remove the photo wherever this is practical. For example, we can change an image on old news stories, but we can't remove it from a publication that has already been printed.

We ask that you take similar steps, and will alert you when consent for an image has expired. On the very rare occasion someone withdraws consent, we'll also alert you and ask you to no longer use the image and to remove it from your systems.

Reducing the administrative burden

To save time when asked to remove an image, we would ask that whenever you use an image, you take it from our image library (either on Flickr or our communications centre) and delete the image from your personal computer or shared drive once used. This will reduce the chance of you using an image if consent has expired or been withdrawn.