Terms and conditions

Who we are

The Private GP Forum (www.theprivategpforum.co.uk) is operated by Healthwatch Limited (“we”, “us”, “our”).

• Company number: 06997189
• Registered office: Mayfield Clinic, 256 Banbury Road, Oxford, England, OX2 7DE
• Email: hello@theprivategpforum.co.uk

By using the site you agree to these terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the site. Our privacy policy and cookies policy also apply.

Who the site is for

The site is for GPs and other healthcare professionals in the UK who work in, or are considering, private general practice, and for people who work with them. It is not intended for patients looking for medical help, or for anyone under 18.

Information, not advice

Our guides, news, newsletter and systems directory give general information only. They are not professional, clinical, legal, regulatory, tax or financial advice, and they don’t take your circumstances into account.

• Use your own professional judgement.
• Check primary sources before you act, such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the other UK regulators, the General Medical Council (GMC), the ICO and HMRC.
• Take advice from a suitably qualified adviser, your medical defence organisation or your indemnity provider where it matters.

Regulation, guidance and products change. We review our content, but it may not reflect the latest position on the day you read it, and we may change or remove content at any time without notice.

No doctor–patient relationship

Nothing on the site creates a doctor–patient or any other professional relationship between you and us. We don’t give medical advice to patients. If you need medical help, contact your own GP or NHS 111, or call 999 in an emergency.

Links to other websites

The site links to other websites, products and services, including suppliers listed in our systems directory. We don’t control those sites and aren’t responsible for their content, availability, products or privacy practices. A link is not an endorsement or a recommendation that a product suits your practice. Check the supplier’s own terms and policies before you use them.

Some links go to products and services operated by companies connected with us or with whom we have commercial arrangements.

Our newsletter

The Beat is free and monthly. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email. Our privacy policy explains how we use your email address.

Intellectual property

We, or our licensors, own the copyright and other intellectual property in the site and its content, including text, guides, templates, graphics and the The Private GP Forum name and logo. Other trade marks belong to their owners.

You may view, print and download content for your own professional use, and share links to our pages. You must not republish, sell or distribute our content, or use it to build a competing product or train artificial intelligence models, without our written permission. If you quote us, please credit The Private GP Forum and link to the page.

Acceptable use

You must not:

• use the site in any way that is unlawful or fraudulent
• try to gain unauthorised access to the site, its servers or any connected system
• introduce viruses or other harmful code, or attack the site (for example, a denial-of-service attack)
• scrape or copy the site in bulk by automated means, except for search engine indexing
• sign other people up to our newsletter without their permission

We may suspend or restrict access to the site if we reasonably believe these terms have been broken.

Availability of the site

The site is free to use. We don’t guarantee that it, or any content on it, will always be available or free from errors or interruption. We may suspend, withdraw or change all or part of the site for business or operational reasons.

Our liability

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that cannot be excluded or limited under the law of England and Wales.

Subject to that, if you use the site for your work or business, which we expect most readers to do:

• We provide the site and its content “as is”. We exclude all implied conditions, warranties and other terms that might otherwise apply, to the extent the law allows.
• We are not liable for any loss or damage arising from your use of, or reliance on, the site or its content, or from your use of any third-party website, product or service we link to.
• In particular, we are not liable for loss of profits, revenue, business, contracts, goodwill or anticipated savings, business interruption, loss or corruption of data, or any indirect or consequential loss.

If you use the site as a consumer, these terms don’t affect your legal rights. We are responsible for loss you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking these terms or failing to use reasonable care and skill, but not for loss that was not foreseeable, and not for any business losses.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. We will change the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Please check it when you use the site. The terms in force when you use the site apply.

Governing law

These terms, and any dispute or claim arising from them or from your use of the site, are governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have non-exclusive jurisdiction. If you are a consumer living in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you may also bring proceedings in your local courts.

Contact us

Questions about these terms, or a correction to report? Email hello@theprivategpforum.co.uk. You can also find us on our contact page.