Verify a clinic yourself

Record the clinic's full legal name and the operating company name from the clinic website's footer or terms.

These can differ. The legal name is what appears on contracts.

Record the physical address. Cross-check it against Google Maps Street View — does the building look like a clinic?

Some 'clinics' operate from rented serviced offices or residential buildings.

Look up the operating company in the national company registry. Confirm it is active.

Dissolved-and-re-registered entities are a documented risk pattern.

Note the registered date. Was the company recently dissolved and re-registered?

If yes, ask the clinic why before proceeding.

Find the operating licence on the country's ministry of health register.

Without a current operating licence the clinic cannot lawfully treat you.

List every accreditation the clinic claims (JCI, NABH, ISO, MSQH, etc.).

The Accreditation Verifier tool has lookup recipes for the major ones.

Verify each accreditation against the issuing body's public register.

Logos in the footer are not verification.

Get the named lead surgeon for your procedure (in writing — not 'one of our specialists').

Rotating surgeon assignments are common; you have the right to know.

Verify the surgeon's licence on the national medical-council register.

Use the Surgeon Lookup tool for the correct register.

Confirm the surgeon's specialty board certification covers your procedure.

Specialty board ≠ licensure. Both matter.

Confirm an accredited anaesthetist will be present for any procedure under sedation/GA.

Surgery centres without on-site anaesthetists are a red flag for invasive work.

Read the most-recent 30 Google reviews — and the 1- and 2-star reviews specifically.

Look for clusters of similar complaints, not just averages.

Check for review-manipulation patterns: bursts of 5-star reviews, accounts with no other activity.

Use the Red Flags Self-Check tool's pattern scanner.

Obtain a fully itemised quote in writing, listing what is included AND what is excluded.

Verbal quotes are unenforceable.

Confirm deposit and refund terms in writing.

Blanket non-refundable clauses are unenforceable in many jurisdictions.

Get the documented complication-handling pathway: who covers cost, where you'd be transferred, who is on-call.

If the clinic has no clear answer, treat as a serious gap.

Request the consent form in your language for review BEFORE travel.

Reading a consent form an hour before surgery in a foreign language is not informed consent.

Tell your home GP/PCP about the planned procedure and obtain a fitness letter where appropriate.

Use the 'For your home GP' PDF on the clinic page.

Confirm what your travel and health insurance does and does not cover.

Use the Insurance gap finder tool.

Confirm written post-op follow-up arrangements: who, when, by what channel.

Get the after-hours emergency contact in writing.