Expert Live Chat Clinical Advice Disclaimer
Applies only to human Expert Live Chat with regulated healthcare professionals. No AI-generated responses are provided through this service.
PLEASE READ BEFORE USING EXPERT LIVE CHAT
Our regulated healthcare professionals can provide information, clinical advice and appropriate signposting within their professional competence and the scope of the service. Expert Live Chat supports, but does not replace, care from your own midwife, maternity unit, GP, prescriber or other healthcare team. The service must not be used for emergencies, labour, birth or time-critical concerns.
1. Emergencies and time-critical concerns
Do not use Expert Live Chat as an emergency service, urgent maternity triage service, labour service or birth service. The chat is not continuously monitored and a response may not be immediate.
· For a life-threatening or serious emergency in the UK, call 999 or go to the nearest Accident & Emergency department.
· Contact your own midwife or maternity unit immediately if you are worried about yourself or your baby, including concerns about labour, waters breaking, vaginal bleeding, severe or persistent pain, reduced or changed baby movements, breathing difficulty, a seizure, or feeling seriously unwell. This list is not exhaustive.
· For urgent help that is not life-threatening, or when you are unsure what to do, contact NHS 111 or your usual healthcare provider.
· Outside the UK, contact the appropriate local emergency, urgent care or maternity service.
Never wait for a live chat response before seeking urgent or emergency care.
2. Regulated professional live chat
Expert Live Chat is provided by regulated healthcare professionals, including qualified and NMC-registered midwives and, where appropriate, professionals regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). They may provide information, clinical advice and appropriate signposting within their professional competence and the scope of the service.
Advice is based on the information you provide during a remote text conversation. The professional cannot physically examine you or your baby, take observations, perform tests, access every part of your medical or maternity record, or see changes that may only be apparent in person.
For those reasons, the professional may advise you to contact your own healthcare team, maternity unit, GP, prescriber, NHS 111 or emergency services, or to attend for an in-person assessment. You should follow that advice promptly. Your own healthcare team remains responsible for your ongoing care and is usually best placed to assess you with access to your records, local pathways and any required physical examination.
3. Limits of remote clinical advice
A live chat response may be affected by incomplete, inaccurate or misunderstood information, the limitations of text-based communication, technical issues or differences in local clinical guidance.
Advice given through the service relates to the question and information available at that time. It is not a guarantee about your health, pregnancy, labour, birth, recovery or your baby's condition, and it may no longer be appropriate if your symptoms or circumstances change.
Clinical practices and referral pathways can differ between maternity units, NHS organisations and countries. Where our advice differs from your personal care plan or from advice given by the healthcare professionals directly responsible for you, contact your own healthcare team promptly for clarification.
4. Your responsibilities
· Give information that is accurate, complete and relevant, and tell the healthcare professional if your symptoms or circumstances change.
· Do not use the service under another person's identity or rely on advice given for someone else.
· Follow any recommendation to seek an in-person assessment, urgent review or emergency care.
· Continue to attend appointments and follow your agreed care plan unless your own healthcare team advises otherwise.
· Do not start, stop or change prescribed medication or treatment unless advised by an appropriately qualified prescriber or healthcare professional who has sufficient information to advise you safely.
5. Privacy and health information
Information shared in Expert Live Chat may include health information and other sensitive personal information. Our Expert Live Chat Privacy Notice explains how personal information is collected, used, accessed, stored, shared and protected, and describes your data protection rights.
Authorised regulated healthcare professionals and other authorised personnel may access the conversation where necessary to provide the service, manage safety, support clinical governance or meet legal and regulatory obligations, as described in the Privacy Notice.
Only provide information that is reasonably necessary for your question. Do not use chat to send an emergency request, time-critical information or information that requires immediate clinical action.
6. Availability and third-party information
We do not guarantee that Expert Live Chat will always be available, uninterrupted or error-free. Service interruptions, delays or technical faults may occur.
Links or references to third-party information are provided for convenience and do not replace assessment or advice from the healthcare professionals responsible for your care.
Healthcare guidance, professional standards, technology and legal requirements may change. We may update the service and this disclaimer when necessary.
7. Legal rights and liability
We will provide the service with reasonable care and skill. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for loss or harm caused by information you deliberately or materially omit or provide inaccurately, failure to follow clear advice to seek appropriate care, or use of the service outside its stated scope, except to the extent that our own breach or negligence contributed to the loss or harm.
Nothing in this disclaimer excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or affects your statutory rights.
This disclaimer should be read together with the applicable Terms of Use and Expert Live Chat Privacy Notice. By starting or continuing a chat, you acknowledge the nature, scope and limitations of the service described above.