Legislation

This page provides information on current relevant legislation regarding the publishing of medical service information on the Internet. This is provided by the General Medical Council's "Good Medical Practice 3rd Edition May 2001".

 Providing Information About Your Services

1. If you publish or broadcast information about services you provide, the information must be factual and verifiable. It must be published in a way that conforms with the law and with the guidance issued by the Advertising Standards Authority. If you publish information about specialist services, you must still follow the guidance in paragraph 35 of Good Medical Practice.

2. The information you publish must not make claims about the quality of your services nor include comparisons with the services provided by colleagues. It must not, in any way, offer guarantees of cures, nor exploit patients' vulnerability or lack of medical knowledge.

3. Information published about specialist services should include advice that patients cannot usually be seen or treated by specialists, either in the NHS or private practice, without an appropriate referral, usually from their general practitioner. Specialists should take all reasonable steps to ensure that a similar statement is included in any advertisement for specialist services issued by an organisation with which they are associated.

4. Information you publish about your services must not put pressure on people to use a service, for example by arousing ill-founded fear of future ill health. Similarly you must not advertise your services by visiting or telephoning prospective patients, either in person or through a deputy. - General Medical Council -

 Probity

48. If you publish information about the services you provide, the information must be factual and verifiable. It must be published in a way that conforms with the law and with the guidance issued by the Advertising Standards Authority.

49. The information you publish must not make unjustifiable claims about the quality of your services. It must not, in any way, offer guarantees of cures, nor exploit patients' vulnerability or lack of medical knowledge.

50. Information you publish about your services must not put pressure on people to use a service, for example by arousing ill-founded fear for their future health. Similarly you must not advertise your services by visiting or telephoning prospective patients, either in person or through a deputy.

 The following extract relating to advertising on the Internet, has been taken from Clause 21 of the abpi Code Of Practice, and has been made available with the permission of the ABPI

1. Access to promotional material directed to a UK audience provided on the Internet in relation to prescription only medicines, or medicines which, though not prescription only, may not legally be advertised to the general public, must be limited to health professionals and appropriate administrative staff.

2. Information or promotional material about medicines covered by Clause 21.1 above which is placed on the Internet outside the UK will be regarded as coming within the scope of the Code if it was placed there by a UK Company or an affiliate of a UK company or at the instigation or with the authority of such a company and it makes specific reference to the availability or use of the medicine in the UK.

3. Information about medicines covered by Clauses 22.1 and 22.2 above which is provided on the Internet and which can assessed by members of the public and must comply with Clause 20.2 of the Code.

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of Clauses 21.1 and 21.3 above, a medicine covered by Clause 21.1 may be advertised in a relevant independently produced electronic journal intended for health professionals or appropriate administrative staff which can be assessed by members of the public.

5. European public assessment reports, summaries of product characteristics and package leaflets for medicines covered by Clause 21.1 above may be included on the Internet and be accessible by members of the public provided that they are presented in such a way as to be promotional un nature.

6. It should be made clear when a user is leaving any of the company's sites, or sites sponsored by the company, or is being directed to a site which is not that of the company.