HPCSA ad-copy checker
Paste a social post, Google ad or website paragraph. We flag what the HPCSA rules and the ARB Code treat as risky, explain why with a link to the source, and give you a compliant rewrite. Also covers SANC, SAPC and AHPCSA professions.
Paste text or try the flagged example.
A screening aid built on published council rules, not legal advice. It can miss context and over-flag; the registered practitioner remains responsible for their advertising.
The six do's and six don'ts behind every flag.
- 1State facts
Services, hours, location, fees and how to book.HPCSA Booklet 2
- 2Show your registration
Name, profession, category and registration number.HPCSA Booklet 2
- 3Educate
Evidence-based health information that informs, not alarms.HPCSA Booklet 16 (2025)
- 4Get written consent
Before any patient story or photo, even if they are not identifiable.HPCSA Booklet 16 (2025)
- 5Hold the evidence
Keep proof for every factual claim before it goes live.ARB Code
- 6Disclose paid content
Any sponsorship or paid promotion is labelled.HPCSA Booklet 16 (2025)
- 1"Best", "leading", "No. 1"
Superiority and quality-of-service claims are canvassing.HPCSA Booklet 2
- 2Testimonials and reviews
Patient praise used to promote a practitioner.HPCSA Booklet 16 (2025)
- 3Guarantees and cures
Professional guarantees are canvassing; outcomes cannot be promised.HPCSA Booklet 2
- 4Freebies and inducements
Free Wi-Fi, gifts, "refer a friend" rewards are touting.HPCSA Booklet 16 (2025)
- 5Fear-based hooks
Ads that cause unwarranted anxiety about a condition.HPCSA Booklet 2
- 6Comparisons
Reflections on other practitioners' skill or reputation.HPCSA Booklet 2
Sources
- 1.Ethical and Professional Rules of the HPCSA (Booklet 2), incorporating the Ethical Rules of Conduct (GNR 717 of 4 August 2006), Health Professions Council of South Africa, September 2016.
- 2.Guidelines for Good Practice: Social Media (Booklet 16), Health Professions Council of South Africa, March 2025.
- 3.Advertising guidelines for practitioners, HPCSA Corporate Affairs, 18 October 2016.
- 4.Guidelines on over-servicing, perverse incentives and related matters (Booklet 11), Health Professions Council of South Africa, March 2025.
- 5.Regulations: Acts or omissions in respect of which the Council may take disciplinary steps (GN R.767 of 2014), Nursing Act 33 of 2005, South African Nursing Council / Department of Health, 2014.
- 6.Good Pharmacy Practice Manual and associated SAPC rules (rules under section 35A of the Pharmacy Act 53 of 1974), South African Pharmacy Council, Current consolidated edition.
- 7.AHPCSA ethical code and rules specifying acts or omissions (Government Gazette 39531), Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa, 18 December 2015.
- 8.Code of Advertising Practice, Section II (substantiation clause 4.1; testimonials clause 10), Advertising Regulatory Board (successor to the ASA of South Africa), 2020 consolidation.
- 9.Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (health information is special personal information, s26-s32), Information Regulator (South Africa), In force 1 July 2021.
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