Acceptable Use Policy

INTRODUCTION

This Acceptable Use Policy sets out how you may and may not use The GP Service. It applies to every user of our website, mobile applications and associated services (together, the “Platform”), operated by Novamedica Limited trading as The GP Service.

This Policy forms part of your agreement with us. Please read it alongside our Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

By using the Platform, you agree to comply with this Policy. If you do not agree, you must not use the Platform.

1. ACCEPTABLE USE

When you use the Platform, you must:
(a) use it lawfully, honestly, and for its intended purpose — to access remote consultations with independent clinicians and related healthcare services;
(b) provide accurate, complete and up-to-date information about yourself, including your identity, medical history, symptoms, medications and allergies;
(c) follow the clinician’s advice and any instructions about medication, treatment or follow-up care;
(d) treat clinicians, our staff and other users with respect and courtesy;
(e) keep your account login details confidential and notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorised access; and
(f) comply with all applicable UK laws and regulations while using the Platform.

2. THINGS YOU MUST NOT DO

2.1  Clinical misuse: You must not:
(a) attempt to obtain prescriptions, fit notes or referrals that are not clinically indicated;
(b) provide false, exaggerated or misleading information about your symptoms, medical history, medication, or circumstances in order to influence a clinical decision;
(c) withhold material information from a clinician where doing so could affect your safety or the safety of others;
(d) use the Platform to obtain controlled or restricted medications in contravention of clinicians’ prescribing standards;
(e) share, sell, give away or resell any medication prescribed to you through the Platform.

2.2  Account and identity misuse: You must not:
(a) register more than one account for yourself;
(b) impersonate another person, or use the Platform on behalf of someone else without their authorisation and any lawful basis required;
(c) allow any other person to use your account, or use another person’s account;
(d) provide false information during identity verification.

2.3  Behaviour towards clinicians, staff and other users: You must not, whether by message, voice, video, or any other means:
(a) abuse, threaten, harass, intimidate, stalk, discriminate against, or make any unlawful or offensive statement to a clinician, member of our staff, or any other user;
(b) use sexualised, discriminatory, or otherwise inappropriate language or imagery;
(c) attempt to contact a clinician outside the Platform, unless they have expressly consented to this;
(d) record a consultation without the clinician’s explicit consent.

2.4  Content you upload or share: You must not upload, post, share, transmit or create content that:
(a) is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, offensive, hateful or incites violence or discrimination;
(b) infringes the intellectual property rights, privacy rights or other rights of any third party;
(c) contains false, misleading or deceptive information;
(d) contains personal data about another person that you do not have a lawful basis to share;
(e) contains viruses, malware, or any code designed to damage, disrupt or compromise systems or data.

2.5  Platform security: You must not:
(a) attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Platform, any account, any server on which the Platform is hosted, or any connected system;
(b) attempt to interfere with, damage, disrupt or overload the Platform, including by denial-of-service attacks;
(c) probe, scan or test the vulnerability of the Platform, or breach or circumvent any security or authentication measures;
(d) reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise attempt to derive the source code of any part of the Platform.

2.6  Data extraction and AI training: You must not use the Platform, or any data, content or services accessed through it, for text or data mining, scraping, crawling, or to develop, train, fine-tune or validate any artificial intelligence system or model, without our prior written consent.

2.7  Commercial misuse: You must not use the Platform for any commercial, business or resale purpose, or to market, advertise or promote any third-party product or service.

3. CONSEQUENCES OF BREACH

3.1  We take breaches of this Policy seriously. Where a breach occurs, we may (at our reasonable discretion):
(a) issue a warning;
(b) remove or edit content you have uploaded;
(c) suspend your account;
(d) terminate your account immediately and prevent you from registering again;
(e) refuse to refund consultation fees or other charges;
(f) take legal action to recover our costs or damages;
(g) report the matter to the police, regulators, or other competent authorities.

3.2  Zero-tolerance breaches. In all cases involving abusive, threatening or discriminatory behaviour towards a clinician, our staff, or another user, we will terminate your account without notice and without refund, and will prevent you from registering again.

3.3  Safeguarding. Where we become aware of information suggesting a risk of harm to you or another person, we may share information with appropriate authorities in line with statutory safeguarding guidance.

4. REPORTING BREACHES

If you believe another user or a clinician has breached this Policy, or you have encountered content or behaviour that concerns you, please tell us:

Email: support@thegpservice.co.uk
Phone: 024 7745 0727

We will review every report and take appropriate action.

For complaints about the Platform or a clinician, please see our Complaints Policy.

5. CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may update this Policy from time to time. Where we make material changes, we will notify you by email or through a notice on the Platform. The “Last updated” date at the top of this Policy shows when it was most recently revised. Continued use of the Platform after an update indicates your acceptance.

6. CONTACT

If you have questions about this Policy, please contact us:

Email: support@thegpservice.co.uk
Phone: 024 7745 0727
Post: Novamedica Limited, The Dock, 75 Exploration Drive, Leicester, LE4 5NU