The rapid rise of telehealth has reshaped healthcare delivery across the United Kingdom. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, remote consultations moved from being a niche offering to a core component of healthcare services. As virtual care, remote healthcare, and digital health become embedded into routine practice, understanding and addressing the risks associated with telehealth is vital to ensure its safe and ethical use.
While telehealth offers undeniable benefits—improving access, convenience, and efficiency—it also brings vulnerabilities that can be exploited. This blog explores the potential abuses of telehealth and highlights key strategies to mitigate them.
Data Privacy and Security Breaches in Telehealth
Data privacy is a major concern in telehealth. Moving sensitive patient information through electronic platforms increases the risk of breaches. The Babylon Health data breach, where patients were accidentally shown other people’s consultation videos, serves as a stark reminder that even small software glitches can have big consequences (BBC News, 2020).
With the NHS reporting some of the highest rates of data security incidents in the UK, healthcare organisations must adopt dynamic cybersecurity strategies. Measures such as end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication, and rigorous staff training are no longer optional—they are essential .
Beyond technical solutions, protecting patient autonomy and privacy aligns with fundamental healthcare ethics (AMA Code of Medical Ethics, 2025). Respecting these principles in digital health requires embedding strong data governance practices at every stage of telehealth delivery.
Fraudulent Activities: A Growing Threat
The convenience of telehealth has, unfortunately, opened new opportunities for fraud. Although evidence suggests that widespread telehealth fraud is rare, isolated incidents highlight real risks. Reports of “online pill mills” selling controlled substances without proper oversight are deeply concerning (MedCityNews, 2025). Reports of black market sales of weight loss drugs like Mounjaro and Ozempic, obtained via unscrupulous telemedicine sites, are increasingly common (Gov.uk, 2024).
Prescription fraud, billing for services not rendered, and upcoding for higher reimbursements are all examples of telehealth abuse (Paubox, 2025). NHS boards must avoid the temptation to view telehealth purely as a cost-saving tool, which could compromise scrutiny over service quality and increase vulnerability to fraud (BMJ, 2012).
Stricter regulatory oversight, especially regarding remote prescribing, is critical. Verification of patient identity, mandatory video consultations for initial prescriptions, and real-time prescription monitoring could help protect both patients and healthcare systems.
Impact on Quality and Safety of Care
Virtual consultations bring new clinical risks. The inability to perform physical examinations remotely can lead to misdiagnosis or missed diagnoses, particularly for patients with complex or non-specific symptoms (Payne et al, 2024).
Moreover, the “one-problem approach” often adopted during remote appointments can overlook broader health issues (Verma & Kerrison, 2022). The absence of non-verbal communication in telephone consultations also diminishes the quality of clinical interactions and may undermine patient trust.
Despite these challenges, telehealth remains valuable when used appropriately. National guidelines are urgently needed to help clinicians decide when an in-person consultation is necessary. Ensuring patient safety in remote healthcare demands clear clinical pathways, robust triage protocols, and clinician training focused specifically on virtual care environments.
Professional Misconduct and Boundary Violations
Maintaining professional boundaries in digital health settings can be more complex than in face-to-face interactions. Research shows that blurred boundaries are a real risk in telehealth, exacerbated by the perceived informality of online communication (Manalili, 2024).
Recent incidents, such as online abuse directed at physician associates and cases of serious professional misconduct by doctors, underscore the need for vigilance (CPS, 2025). Digital interactions must be governed by the same professional standards that apply to in-person care.
Healthcare organisations should offer guidance to clinicians on professional online conduct, appropriate use of communication channels, and maintaining clear, structured telehealth sessions to protect patients and preserve trust.
Digital Exclusion and Health Inequities
The promise of telehealth must not come at the cost of widening health inequalities. Digital exclusion remains a major concern, with older adults, people with disabilities, and low-income groups facing barriers to accessing remote healthcare (Ko et al, 2025).
A lack of digital literacy, poor broadband connectivity, and affordability issues contribute to the “digital health divide” (Western et al, 2024). If left unaddressed, these issues risk entrenching existing healthcare disparities.
Policymakers must ensure that alternative, non-digital healthcare options remain available. Investment in digital literacy initiatives, subsidised access to technology, and designing inclusive telehealth services are key to making virtual care equitable.
Safeguarding Vulnerable Patients in Remote Settings
Remote healthcare can make it harder to spot safeguarding concerns, such as domestic abuse or neglect. During the pandemic, clinicians reported challenges in identifying intimate partner violence via telehealth consultations (Jack et al, 2020).
The lack of privacy at home, limited physical assessment opportunities, and fragmented health records all hinder safeguarding efforts (RCGP Learning, 2025). This highlights the importance of maintaining a low threshold for switching to face-to-face assessments when concerns arise.
Developing specialist training in remote safeguarding, enhancing digital consultation protocols, and improving access to full patient records are critical steps for protecting vulnerable patients in the age of digital health.
Building a Resilient and Ethical Telehealth Future
Telehealth is here to stay, but so are its risks. Addressing potential abuse requires a proactive, multi-layered approach: robust cybersecurity, stricter regulatory frameworks, clear clinical guidelines, professional ethics training, inclusive digital policies, and enhanced safeguarding protocols.
Embedding ethical principles such as beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice into telehealth service design is not just an aspiration—it is a necessity for sustainable healthcare transformation (Brall et al, 2019).
By staying vigilant and responsive to emerging risks, the UK can fully harness the potential of telehealth to improve health outcomes, while protecting the safety, dignity, and rights of every patient.
Virtual Health Hub 
It’s easy to focus on the convenience of telehealth, but this post does a great job of unpacking the less visible risks. The points on digital exclusion and safeguarding especially stood out to me. Definitely made me reflect on how we balance innovation with safety and trust.
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