Trust is the product.

1 · Equal for everyone — no pay-to-rank

Every consultant is treated identically. Search results are ordered only by rating, relevance and recency. A free profile can — and does — rank above a paying one. Subscriptions unlock tools (review collection, widgets, analytics, automation); they never buy position, prominence, or the removal of genuine reviews. Any sponsored placement, were we ever to offer it, would be clearly labelled and visually separated.

Vuemedics is founded by a practising consultant who is also listed on the platform — held to the same verification and independent moderation as everyone else, unable to moderate their own profile, and with no ability to pay for or alter ranking.

2 · How we verify consultants

“Verified” has to mean something. Before a profile goes live we check:

• GMC registration — the doctor’s GMC reference number and licence status on the GMC register.
• Specialist Register — that they hold specialist registration in the relevant specialty.
• CQC-registered location — that they practise at a CQC-registered (or, in Scotland/Wales/NI, equivalently regulated) location.
• NHS / hospital post and society membership where relevant (BAAPS, BAPRAS, RCS, BAD, ENT UK, BOPSS and others).

Verification is re-checked periodically. Loss of registration removes the verified badge.

Experience, not clinical quality. Vuemedics measures patients’ experience of care — communication, information, aftercare and decision-making — not surgical skill or outcomes. For objective measures such as procedure volumes, we point patients to PHIN.

3 · How we moderate reviews

Reviewers confirm they are genuine patients. Reviews are by invitation only — the consultant or clinic issues a single-use review link or code after an episode of care — and are then independently moderated against published guidelines before publishing. We remove:

• Incentivised, paid-for or promotional content (including discount codes or referral links).
• Anything that identifies another patient, or names individual staff.
• Abusive, threatening or potentially defamatory statements of fact we cannot substantiate.
• Reviews we cannot reasonably verify as coming from a real patient.

We do not remove a review simply because it is negative, or because the patient reported feeling pressured — that information is valuable. Consultants have a free right of reply on every plan, and both parties can use our appeals route. Every decision is recorded in an append-only internal log, and we publish aggregate moderation statistics live on this page.

4 · Portable & permanent reviews

Your verified reviews remain published — in read-only form — even on the free plan and even if you stop subscribing. We will never archive or hide genuine reviews to pressure you into paying. You can export your full review history as CSV at any time, on any plan.

5 · Privacy & data (UK GDPR)

• Patients are shown publicly as “Verified patient” — names are never published.
• We process personal data under UK GDPR with a clear lawful basis, a retention policy and a Data Protection Impact Assessment for review handling.
• No incentivised reviews; patients confirm no payment or benefit was received.
• Patients can request correction or removal of their own review; consultants cannot delete patients’ honest reviews.

6 · Complaints & disputes

If a consultant believes a review is false, defamatory or breaches our rules, they can flag it through a fast notice-and-action process. We will review promptly, may contact the reviewer to confirm verification, and will remove content that breaches the law or our guidelines. We operate this in line with the UK regime for website operators and aim to resolve flags quickly and fairly to both sides.

7 · Cosmetic content standards

Cosmetic procedures carry particular sensitivities. We align our review design and any imagery with GMC guidance on cosmetic interventions and ASA/CAP rules: we don’t trivialise procedures, we don’t allow exaggerated outcome claims, and our structured questions (including the “felt no pressure” measure) are designed to support responsible, informed decision-making.