Skip to main content
THE TREATMENT REGISTRY
Language

Questions to ask before paying a deposit

Print this. Walk through every item with the clinic before you commit money. Where the answer is “we don’t share that”, that itself is information.

Reference only — not medical advice. See disclaimer.

Questions to ask

The surgeon

  • Who specifically will perform every stage of the procedure? Is the surgeon I see in marketing the same one operating?
  • What is the surgeon's annual volume of this exact procedure?
  • Provide the surgeon's full registered name and registration number on the relevant medical or dental council.
  • Is the surgeon board-certified in the relevant specialty? Issuing body and date.
  • Are any stages performed by trainees, technicians, or assisting clinicians?

Anaesthesia

  • Will an accredited anaesthetist be present? Their name and registration.
  • What anaesthesia type — local, sedation, regional, or general?
  • Is the facility licensed for the chosen anaesthesia type?

Outcomes

  • What is the clinic's documented complication rate for this procedure?
  • What is the documented revision rate?
  • Where can I see those numbers — published audit, registry, peer-reviewed paper, internal?

Cost

  • Provide a written, fully itemised quotation listing every chargeable item.
  • What is explicitly excluded from the quote (anaesthesia, medications, lab, follow-up, accommodation)?
  • What is the deposit, and the cancellation/refund policy in writing?
  • If revision is needed within 12 months due to a complication, what is the cost policy?

Records and aftercare

  • What records will I receive on discharge? (See the Records-to-Obtain tool.)
  • How is post-op follow-up structured? Tele-follow-up cadence and channel.
  • Who is the after-hours contact for complications in the first 30 days?
  • Do you have transfer agreements with a tertiary hospital? Which one?

Recourse

  • What is the formal complaints pathway and the regulator I should escalate to?
  • What is the clinic's professional indemnity insurance policy and insurer?
  • Which courts have jurisdiction in the contract I am being asked to sign?