NMC Guidelines for Doctors 2026: What the New Advertising Rules Mean for Your Clinic

Updated 10 October 2026 with the official NMC notice. Clause numbers below refer to that notice. Not legal advice.

If your clinic website says "best", shows patient testimonials or lists how many patients you've treated, the NMC's new advertising guidelines apply to it. For most independent clinics, the fix is a few edits, not an overhaul.

What the NMC advertising guidelines say

• The NMC's Ethics and Medical Registration Board issued the Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication on 6 October 2026 (public notice R-13014/01/2024-Ethics), in force with immediate effect.
• They apply to registered medical practitioners, hospitals and medical institutions. Healthcare platforms that list doctors must follow the same norms and may not sell paid rankings of doctors (cl. 9.4).
• An advertisement is any communication, in any medium, that promotes a doctor's services, reputation, skills, qualifications or facilities (cl. 3.2). The listed media include websites, blogs, social media, WhatsApp and other messaging apps, online platforms and AI-generated promotion (cl. 3.5).
• Information shared with the public without being promotional and without commercial intent is not an advertisement (cl. 3.2, Explanation I). Health education is allowed if it doesn't promote your practice or solicit patients (cl. 5.1).
• The 2002 IMC Professional Conduct Regulations still apply alongside the guidelines (cl. 4.2).

What changes now for your clinic

1. Your whole online presence is in scope. Your website, social media, WhatsApp messages, listings and any ads all count when they promote your practice.
2. Disclosure is expected. Doctors' electronic media posts should state name, qualifications, registration status and SMR or NMR registration number (cl. 3.2, Explanation III). Clinics posting about their doctors should state the same (Explanation IV).
3. What others do for you counts. Publishing through an agency, influencer or platform doesn't remove your responsibility for content you authorised or knowingly permitted (cl. 4.4). You can't use a third party to do indirectly what you can't do directly (cl. 8.1(xi)), and payments to agencies or platforms can't be linked to individual patients (cl. 8.1(viii)).

What to stop doing

• Superlatives and guarantees. The guidelines name "Guaranteed cures", "Best doctors", "No.1 Specialist", "100% success", "painless treatment", "Miracle treatment" and "Exclusive cure" (cl. 8.1(iii)). Claims such as "leading", "most trusted", "top" or "unmatched" are also barred unless objectively verifiable by a transparent, independent method (cl. 8.1(ix)).
• Success rates and patient counts. "98% success rate" or "10,000 happy patients" counts as advertising professional success rates or numbers treated (cl. 8.1(iii)).
• Testimonials and reviews for promotion. A doctor "shall not request or share patient testimonials, recommendations, endorsements or reviews for professional promotion on social media" (cl. 3.2, Explanation V), and may not permit testimonials to be used to promote their services (cl. 8.1(ii)). Patient consent doesn't make a testimonial acceptable (cl. 6.2). Asking patients for an honest review is different, as long as you don't use those reviews to promote your practice: no displaying, quoting or resharing them, and nothing offered in return.
• Before-and-after photographs, promotional case stories and celebrity patients (cl. 8.1(v)).
• Offers that bring in patients. Discounts, limited-period offers, coupons, cashback, referral benefits and free procedures are barred where they are likely to encourage unnecessary consultations, tests or treatment, or amount to soliciting patients (cl. 8.1(x)). Stating your fees factually is fine.
• Comparisons with other doctors or clinics, such as "better than other clinics" (cl. 8.1(ix)).
• Fear-based marketing and messages meant to create unnecessary demand for procedures or tests (cl. 8.1(i)).
• Fake engagement. No buying or manipulating followers, likes, reviews, ratings or comments, and no manipulating search rankings to create a misleading impression (cl. 8.1(xii)).
• AI-made promotion. AI-generated promotional campaigns for commercial interest are prohibited, and any AI-generated promotional content that is otherwise allowed must carry a mark saying it was made by AI (cl. 7.2). AI must never be used to create or alter a patient's image, testimonial, voice or outcome (cl. 7.2(b)).
• Paying for top placement. Platforms may not sell paid rankings of doctors (cl. 9.4), so don't buy "featured" or top-listing slots.
• Your photo as an advertisement. A doctor's photograph is not permitted where its use amounts to self-advertisement, solicitation or promotional publicity (cl. 9.2). We read this as covering promotional use, not a plain profile photo next to your qualifications.

What you can still do

A great deal. This is not a ban on websites, SEO or health education. You can:

• State the facts about you. Name, qualifications, registration status and registration number are what the guidelines ask you to disclose. Other plain facts, such as the conditions you treat, your address and your OPD timings, are factual information.
• Make formal announcements about starting practice, a change of address or type of practice, a temporary absence, resuming practice, and your consultation fees (cl. 8.2, 9.3).
• Run a clear clinic website that tells patients who you are, where you are and how to book.
• Educate. Articles, talks, videos and patient leaflets that explain conditions and treatment options, without promoting your practice, soliciting patients or promising outcomes (cl. 5.1, 8.3).
• Use AI carefully. The guidelines target AI used for promotion or to mislead, not every use of AI. Check everything AI helps you write, never let it invent patients or results, and label AI-made content where that matters to the reader (cl. 7.2(c)).
• Keep looking after your patients. The guidelines list WhatsApp among advertising media, but a message is an advertisement only when it promotes. Keeping reminders and follow-ups clinical, with no offers and no "book now" pushes, is the cautious approach.

Why this may favour independent clinics

This is our view, not the NMC's: these rules may level the field for independent doctors.

Clinics with big budgets bought top listing spots, ran discount campaigns and made polished testimonial videos. A solo doctor with a good practice and no marketing team couldn't match that reach.

Under the guidelines, paid rankings, promotional offers, testimonial reels and "best doctor" claims are restricted for everyone. What remains are things an independent doctor already has:

• Real qualifications and experience, stated plainly.
• An honest website that tells patients who you are and how to reach you.
• Useful education that shows how you think.
• Continuity of care, kept clinical rather than promotional: the doctor who follows up and remembers the patient.

The tools that rewarded ad spend are restricted, which leaves more room for trust and clarity. If the rules are applied evenly, that is a contest an independent clinic can win.

Your 10-minute review

1. Open your website on your phone.
2. Remove "best", "No. 1", "top", "guaranteed", "100%", "painless" and similar claims.
3. Remove success rates and "happy patients" counts.
4. Take down testimonial sections, embedded review widgets and before-and-after galleries.
5. Remove discounts, free-procedure offers and referral rewards.
6. Add your qualifications and SMR or NMR registration number next to your name.
7. Check that your address, phone number and OPD timings are accurate.
8. Cancel any paid "featured" or top-listing slots on doctor-listing platforms.
9. Do the same review for your Instagram and Facebook bio and recent posts, and your WhatsApp Business profile.

If an agency or platform helps you

The guidelines restrict using third parties to market medical services (cl. 8.1(ii)) and hold you responsible for what they publish in your name (cl. 4.4). Help with education and factual information is a different matter: the guidelines expect paid relationships in informational communication to be disclosed (cl. 8.1(xi)). If an agency, freelancer or platform helps you:

• Keep its work to educational and factual content, such as health articles and accurate clinic details.
• Approve everything before it goes out.
• Make sure its pay isn't linked to individual patients (cl. 8.1(viii)).
• Disclose the relationship where it matters to the reader.

What's still open

Superlatives are allowed only if "objectively verifiable" by a transparent, independent method, and few clinics will meet that bar. The NMC can issue clarifications on any part of the guidelines (cl. 12), and we'll update this article when it does.

Source

National Medical Commission, Ethics and Medical Registration Board, Public Notice R-13014/01/2024-Ethics, "Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners", 6 October 2026 (13-page PDF).