What are the regulations regarding advertising medical services as a private GP?

Who regulates what

Rules	Enforced by	What they cover
Good medical practice	GMC	Your personal duty as a doctor to communicate accurately and honestly
CAP Code (non-broadcast)	Advertising Standards Authority	Ads, your website’s marketing content, social media, email and leaflets
Human Medicines Regulations 2012	MHRA, with the ASA	The ban on advertising prescription-only medicines to the public
Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024	Competition and Markets Authority and Trading Standards	Misleading actions and omissions, fake reviews, hidden charges
Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations	ICO	Marketing emails, texts and calls

These rules overlap. An ad can breach the CAP Code and GMC standards at the same time, and ASA rulings are published with the advertiser’s name.

Your duty as a doctor

Good medical practice (2024) says any information you communicate as a medical professional must be accurate, and not false or misleading. You must take reasonable steps to check it, not deliberately leave out relevant information, not minimise or trivialise risks of harm, and not present opinion as established fact. The GMC applies this expressly to social media, advertising your services, and promoting or endorsing services or products. When you do, you must also declare any conflicts of interest and must not exploit people’s vulnerability or lack of medical knowledge. You must be honest in financial and commercial dealings with patients. If you offer cosmetic procedures, the GMC’s separate guidance on cosmetic interventions has specific rules on responsible marketing.

The CAP Code for health services

Section 12 of the CAP Code covers medicines, treatments and health-related products. The rules that matter most for a private GP are:

• Evidence (rule 12.1). Objective claims must be backed by evidence, where relevant from trials on people. “Our health check detects cancer early” is an objective claim.
• Do not discourage essential treatment (rule 12.2). Do not suggest that people with serious conditions can avoid proper medical supervision.
• No guarantees (rule 12.9). Do not claim a treatment is guaranteed to work, absolutely safe or without side effects unless you can prove it.
• No false health claims (rule 12.6). This reflects a practice that is banned outright under the 2024 Act.
• Clear language (rule 12.4). Do not use unfamiliar scientific terms for common conditions to impress or confuse.

General rules also apply. Ads must be obviously identifiable as marketing, comparisons with competitors must be fair and verifiable, and you must not display a quality mark or claim an endorsement you do not have.

Prescription-only medicines

Regulation 284 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 makes it an offence to publish an advertisement likely to lead to the use of a prescription-only medicine. CAP rule 12.12 says the same. This is the rule private services most often break.

In 2025 the ASA, MHRA and General Pharmaceutical Council issued a joint enforcement notice on weight-loss medicines, updated in September 2025. The ASA has found against ads that:

• named a prescription-only medicine or its brand
• used wording that implied one, such as “weight loss injections”, “weight loss pen” or “skinny jab”
• showed branded or unbranded injection pens or vials
• linked to a landing page implying that the consultation would end in a prescription-only medicine.

The same principle covers other areas common in private general practice, such as hormone therapy, antibiotics, erectile dysfunction treatment and treatments for hair loss. You can advertise the consultation: an assessment with a doctor who will discuss treatment options, including medication where appropriate. You cannot advertise the medicine. Once a patient is in consultation with you, discussing a specific medicine is clinical care, not advertising.

Vaccines are not exempt either. Advertising a private travel or flu vaccination service is fine, but avoid promoting a named prescription-only vaccine. The regulations allow only certain government-approved vaccination campaigns.

Prices and offers

• Quoted prices must include charges the patient cannot avoid, such as a booking or administration fee.
• Be clear about what the price covers and what costs extra, such as tests, prescriptions and letters. See how much to charge.
• “From” prices must be genuinely available.
• Do not use false urgency, such as offers that are not really time-limited. The GMC is particularly concerned about pressure selling of cosmetic procedures.

Reviews and testimonials

The 2024 Act bans fake reviews and concealed incentivised reviews, and the CAP Code now reflects this. You must:

• hold evidence that every testimonial is genuine, with the person’s contact details
• not remove or hide negative reviews while showing positive ones
• make clear where a review was incentivised
• not write or commission reviews of your own service.

Patient stories raise confidentiality too. Get explicit, written consent before using any identifiable patient information or image, and remember the GMC’s confidentiality guidance applies even if the patient has posted about you first. Do not reply to online reviews in a way that confirms someone is your patient.

CQC status and qualifications

Only describe your service as CQC registered if it is, and only for the activities you are registered for. In England, once rated, you must display your current CQC rating on your website. Do not imply a better rating, or say you are “CQC approved”. Describe your qualifications accurately. Take care with the word “specialist”, which patients may read as meaning you are on the GMC Specialist Register for that field.

In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Most of the advertising rules on this page are UK-wide. The ASA regulates advertising across the UK, the ban on advertising prescription-only medicines in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 extends to all four nations, and GMC standards apply to every doctor on the UK register. What changes is your regulator, and so what you can say about registration:

• Wales: independent clinics register with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW). Under the Care Standards Act 2000, your certificate of registration must be kept on display in a conspicuous place at the clinic. The national minimum standards expect your patients’ guide and statement of purpose to be accurate and not misleading, and your patient information, including your website, to have an approval and review process.
• Scotland: private GP services in premises are independent clinics and register with Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS).
• Northern Ireland: independent clinics register with RQIA. Its guidance for private doctor services expects the certificate of registration to be on display and to reflect the services you provide.

Wherever you are, describe your registration accurately, name the right regulator, and only advertise services your registration covers. The CQC rating display rule applies only to CQC-registered services in England.

Email, text and social media

• Marketing emails and texts to individuals need their specific consent, or the soft opt-in for existing patients who bought a similar service and were given a chance to opt out. Every message needs an easy unsubscribe.
• Clinical messages, such as results, reminders and recalls, are not marketing. Keep them separate from promotional content.
• Social media posts promoting your services are ads. Paid partnerships and influencer content must be labelled as advertising.

For building a marketing plan within these rules, see developing a marketing strategy and creating a website.

Before you publish

1. Could any claim be checked, and do you hold the evidence?
2. Does the ad name, imply or picture a prescription-only medicine?
3. Is the price the full price, and is it clear what is included?
4. Are reviews genuine, balanced and consented?
5. Would a GMC colleague reading it think it was accurate and fair?

The CAP Code applies across the UK. If you are unsure, the Committee of Advertising Practice offers free copy advice for advertisers.