Treatcompare provides health information to help users make informed decisions about private healthcare. We follow the principles of DCB0129 to identify and manage potential clinical risks in our information services.
Our approach to clinical safety
Treatcompare provides health information to help users make informed decisions about private healthcare. We do not diagnose, prescribe, or provide clinical advice. We follow the principles of DCB0129 (Clinical Risk Management: its Application in the Manufacture of Health IT Systems) to identify and manage potential clinical risks in our information services.
Scope
This clinical safety assessment covers:
- Treatment price comparison tools
- NHS eligibility checkers (GLP-1, IVF)
- NHS vs private waiting time comparisons
- Postcode-based service lookup tools
- Provider verification and regulatory status displays
- Medication information pages (side effects, dosing)
- Interactive calculators (BMI, cost, Medicare gap)
Clinical risk management
We apply a proportionate clinical risk assessment to each category of information published on Treatcompare:
Risk category 1 — Pricing information
Incorrect pricing could lead to financial harm (patient pays more than expected).
Mitigation: prices scraped from provider websites, verified against median for outlier detection, “always verify with provider” disclaimer on every page.
Risk category 2 — NHS eligibility tools
Incorrect eligibility result could lead to patient not seeking NHS treatment they qualify for, or seeking treatment they don't qualify for.
Mitigation: eligibility rules sourced from GOV.UK published commissioning policies, prominent disclaimer that tool does not replace GP advice, “borderline” verdict for uncertain cases.
Risk category 3 — Medication information
Incorrect side effects or dosing information could influence treatment decisions.
Mitigation: all medication data sourced from MHRA (UK) or TGA (Australia) published data, links to official sources, “consult your prescriber” disclaimer.
Risk category 4 — Provider verification
Incorrect regulatory status could lead to patient visiting unverified provider.
Mitigation: all verification checked against official registers (GPhC, CQC, GOC, GMC, AHPRA), weekly re-verification schedule, unverified providers not displayed.
Hazard log
| ID | Hazard | Severity | Likelihood | Risk | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H01 | Incorrect treatment price displayed | Minor (financial) | Possible | Low | Outlier detection, daily scraping, provider verification, user disclaimer |
| H02 | Incorrect NHS eligibility result | Moderate (delayed treatment) | Unlikely | Low | GOV.UK source data, borderline verdict, GP referral advice |
| H03 | Outdated medication side effect data | Moderate (clinical) | Unlikely | Low | MHRA/TGA source, monthly refresh, prescriber disclaimer |
| H04 | Unverified provider displayed as verified | Significant (patient safety) | Rare | Medium | Weekly re-verification, auto-deactivation after 14 days |
| H05 | Calculator produces incorrect result | Minor (financial) | Rare | Low | Unit testing, input validation, manual verification |
Clinical Safety Officer
The Clinical Safety Officer for Treatcompare is the director of Indexeli Intelligence Limited. Contact: safety@treatcompare.com
Review schedule
This clinical safety assessment is reviewed annually and updated whenever significant changes are made to clinical-adjacent features (eligibility tools, medication pages, provider verification).
Regulatory context
Treatcompare is a health information service, not a registered medical device. We follow the principles of DCB0129 as a matter of good practice, not legal obligation. We are not regulated by the CQC for the provision of clinical services. Provider data is sourced from CQC, GPhC, GOC, and GMC public registers.