This site exists to explain how to check a doctor. A listing section only makes sense if it meets the standard the rest of the site asks patients to apply.
That standard is published here first, before any listing exists, so that it can be held to rather than quietly relaxed later.
What will be verified
For doctors
- GMC number matched to the name given
- Currently registered with a licence to practise
- Entry on the Specialist Register for the specialty claimed, or the GP Register for general practitioners
- Any conditions, undertakings, warnings or suspensions noted
- Evidence that the doctor consults at the address listed
For clinics
- The legal entity confirmed at Companies House
- Registration with the Care Quality Commission in England, or the equivalent regulator in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, for the regulated activity offered
- The address verified
For other regulated professionals, the equivalent register for their profession — the GDC, HCPC, NMC, GOC or GPhC as applicable. Who regulates whom lists them.
What will be shown
Each listing will display the GMC number, which is public information, and the date the check was last carried out. A check is only meaningful if its age is visible.
Nothing will be published that implies endorsement. A listing confirms that a registration was verified on a date. It is not a recommendation, a ranking, or a judgement about quality, and the pages will say so.
What will not happen
No paid position without disclosure. Listing is free at launch. If paid prominence is introduced later, it will be labelled as advertising on the page where it appears.
No invented reviews or ratings. If patient feedback is ever added it will be identifiable and verifiable, or it will not be there.
No listings that have gone stale. Registration status changes. A listing whose verification has lapsed will be removed, not left in place looking current.
No scraped entries. Nobody will be listed without having asked to be, and anyone listed can ask to be removed.
Registering interest
If you would like to be listed when the section opens, email hello@harleystreetdoctorsonline.com with your name, GMC number and the address you consult from. Nothing is published at this stage and no fee is involved.
Why publish the standard first
Most directories verify loosely, if at all, and the patient has no way of knowing which. Setting out the checks in advance means a reader can judge whether a listing on this site is worth anything, rather than taking the word “verified” on trust.
It also means that if the standard slips, the evidence of what was promised is still on this page.