When researching plastic surgeons, you’ll encounter different types of review platforms, each with their own approach to collecting and displaying patient feedback:

Open Review Platforms

• Google Reviews: Accessible to anyone with a Google account
• RealSelf: Specialised for cosmetic procedures but still publicly accessible
• Trustpilot: While businesses can invite customers to review, any patient can independently leave feedback without an invitation

These platforms allow any patient to leave a review at any time without requiring an invitation from the clinic. Reviewers typically have profiles with usernames that allow readers to see their review history. Importantly, these reviews remain visible regardless of whether the surgeon or clinic maintains a paid relationship with the platform.

What makes these platforms valuable to prospective patients is their accessibility – patients can share both positive and negative experiences without restriction. This creates a more complete picture of patient outcomes and experiences across the full spectrum of satisfaction levels.

Closed Review Platforms

• Doctify: Operates on a strictly invitation-only basis for verified patients
• Review.io: Another invitation-only platform, though less commonly used by plastic surgeons and clinics

These platforms use a fundamentally different approach where only patients who receive invitations from their healthcare provider can leave reviews. This creates a significant distinction: unhappy patients cannot independently post reviews unless they’ve been specifically invited to do so. Reviewers may be labelled generically (e.g., as “verified patient”) without usernames or identifiable profiles. Some platforms may only display minimal contextual information, and on certain platforms, reviews typically remain visible only while the surgeon maintains an active subscription.

According to publicly available patient reviews on Trustpilot, several users have described their experiences with Doctify’s review process. In a review posted on March 24, 2023, one verified Trustpilot user stated: “The reviews of doctors on Doctify.com are selective. Doctors choose which patient will receive a review link.” Similarly, in a review from May 16, 2023, another verified Trustpilot user wrote: “Patients are unable to leave reviews for their doctors without first receiving a specific code from them.” These direct quotes from Trustpilot reviews suggest that some patients have found Doctify’s invitation-only model limits who can provide feedback.

When researching plastic surgeons in the UK, consider these evidence-based guidelines for interpreting online reviews:

1. Compare Reviews Across Multiple Platforms

Looking at how a plastic surgeon or clinic performs across different review platforms can provide a more complete picture. Consistently high ratings across multiple platforms often indicate reliable quality regardless of how reviews are collected. Be cautious of practices that have excellent ratings on one platform but significantly lower scores on others.

2. Consider Both Rating and Review Volume

A larger sample size generally provides more statistical confidence. A rating based on hundreds of reviews typically offers more insight than the same rating based on only a few reviews.

3. Look for Review Distribution Patterns

Most legitimate healthcare services will have a natural distribution of patient experiences. If you see exclusively perfect ratings with no variation, particularly across large numbers of reviews, this warrants further investigation.

4. Seek Detailed Reviews Relevant to Your Procedure

Find detailed accounts from patients who’ve undergone your specific procedure. This targeted information is often more valuable than overall clinic ratings.

5. Be Wary of Website Review Widgets

Many cosmetic surgery clinics display review widgets on their websites that showcase patient feedback. When evaluating these, consider:

• Filtering capability: Can you filter to see reviews of all star ratings, or are only 5-star reviews displayed?
• Verification links: Do the reviews include links that allow you to verify them on the original external platform?
• Review selection: Is there transparency about how reviews are selected for display on the website?
• Representative sample: Do the displayed reviews match the overall ratings on the external platforms?
• Review source: Consider which platform the reviews come from and whether that platform allows patients to independently submit feedback regardless of their experience

The most transparent practices allow visitors to see their full review profile and provide direct links to verify reviews on the original platforms. As one patient noted on Trustpilot regarding closed review platforms: “I would not trust any reviews of doctors on [closed platforms]. It’s all rigged so that the doctors need only to publish 5 star reviews.”

6. Understand the Statistical Context

When evaluating reviews, consider these statistical realities:

• Normal variation: In all healthcare services, patient experiences naturally vary based on expectations, complexity, and individual factors. Even the most skilled surgeons occasionally have patients with different expectations or uncommon complications.
• Review collection methods: Different platforms gather feedback in different ways, which can significantly impact the distribution of ratings. A review platform that only allows invited patients to leave feedback will naturally show a different pattern than one where any patient can share their experience.
• Comparing platforms: The fact that the same clinic might have significantly different ratings across platforms (e.g., 4.99 on a closed platform vs. 3.2 on an open platform) suggests that review collection methods may be influencing these results rather than reflecting the full spectrum of patient experiences.
• Statistical probability: From a mathematical perspective, it is statistically improbable that any healthcare provider would receive almost exclusively perfect ratings across a large sample size of genuine, unfiltered patient feedback.

7. Verify Surgeon Credentials Beyond Reviews

While reviews provide insight into patient satisfaction, always verify the surgeon’s professional credentials:

• Check the GMC’s specialist register for plastic surgery
• Look for membership in BAAPS (British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons) and BAPRAS (British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons)
• Research the surgeon’s experience with your specific procedure
• Verify where the surgery will be performed (hospital or clinic facilities)

The Royal College of Surgeons recommends that “patients should ensure their surgeon is fully trained and qualified to perform the specific procedure they are considering” (RCS, 2021).