A woman books with a clinic whose website is beautiful. It refers throughout to our surgeons and our expert team, and names nobody.
She meets a coordinator. She is told the surgeon will be allocated closer to the date. She has no name to check, no way to look anybody up, and she is a fortnight from an operation performed by somebody she has never met.
Check 1: get a name before anything else
A named individual who will perform the procedure. Everything else in this guide depends on having one, and a clinic that will not provide it has answered the most important question already.
Check 2: confirm registration on the public register
The relevant professional register will confirm that somebody is registered, in what specialty, and whether any conditions or restrictions apply. It is public, free and takes minutes.
Check 3: check the specialty matches the procedure
Registration alone is not enough. Somebody registered in one field performing procedures in another may be entirely competent or may not be, and the question deserves a direct answer.
Check 4: ask about specific procedure experience
How many of this particular procedure, over what period, and how recently. General surgical experience is not the same as routine practice in one operation.
Check 5: ask what happens if something goes wrong
Who manages a complication, where, at whose cost, and what the revision policy is. A clinic without a clear answer is a clinic without a plan.
Check 6: check where the procedure is performed
The facility, its registration and what happens in an emergency. The premises matter as much as the practitioner and are rarely asked about.
Check 7: ask about indemnity
Whether the practitioner holds appropriate cover and for the procedure in question. It is a reasonable question and a professional will answer it without offence.
Check 8: ask who provides aftercare
The operating surgeon, a nurse, or nobody in particular. Continuity of aftercare is a genuine difference between clinics and it is what matters most when recovery is difficult.
Check 9: be careful about work performed abroad
Where aftercare and complication management will happen, and who will provide it. This is where the cost comparison usually falls apart.
Check 10: treat the photographs sceptically
Whether the images are the surgeon's own patients, unedited, and showing comparable cases. Stock imagery on a surgical website is a meaningful signal.
Check 11: notice the pressure
Time limited discounts, deposits requested at a first meeting and reluctance to allow a cooling off period are all warnings. A responsible clinic builds a gap between the consultation and the decision, and defends it.
Check 12: notice who does the consulting
A salesperson assessing suitability rather than a clinician is the most common structural problem in the sector.
Check 13: keep the price in proportion
A cheaper quote from an unnamed practitioner is not a saving, which is the arithmetic in finance and price questions before cosmetic surgery.
What a clinic should do about all of this
Publish the names, the registrations, the specific experience, the facility and the complication policy without being asked, and let an assistant answer those questions at the hour somebody is researching, handled with the care in how to handle sensitive questions in your chatbot. The responsible enquiry handling is set out in cosmetic surgery consultation requests handled responsibly, and the assessment detail in quote questions that need photographs and access. See features, start at try, and the sector view sits under medical spas.