Consent to video care

A video consultation lets a registered clinician take your history, assess what can reasonably be assessed remotely, explain options and agree next steps with you. It cannot provide a hands-on examination. The clinician may decide that video is unsuitable and direct you to in-person or emergency care. A prescription, sick note or referral is issued only when clinically appropriate; it is never guaranteed by booking or payment.

After your consultation your doctor may dictate a short spoken summary. That recording is sent to a speech-to-text service and the resulting text to an AI service, which prepares a draft of your notes and of any prescription, sick note or referral. These providers may process the recording and the text outside South Africa. The draft is only a draft: your doctor reads it, corrects it and approves it, and nothing is issued to you or entered in your record until they do. The AI does not decide your diagnosis, your medicine or your dose. You can ask your doctor not to use it and they will write your notes themselves.

Video calls may involve third-party video infrastructure. Your clinician records clinically relevant notes in your patient record. hiDoc does not record the call itself as a routine feature. Please consult from a private place and tell the clinician if someone else is present. You can ask questions, decline a proposed examination or treatment, or ask to stop the video consultation.

This service is not for emergencies. For chest pain, severe breathing difficulty, stroke symptoms, severe bleeding or other urgent symptoms, call 10177 or attend an emergency department. Internet or device problems can interrupt a call; if that happens, return to your appointment page and follow the clinician's instructions.

At booking, you confirm that you are at least 18 and booking for yourself, understand the limits of telehealth, acknowledge the privacy notice and confirm that you are not seeking emergency care. We record the version and time of that acknowledgement. This pilot does not currently accept bookings on behalf of minors.

We process health information to arrange and provide your care, maintain clinical records and handle billing as described in the privacy notice. Clinical paperwork is available through your authenticated records page when released; it is not sent in plain email text.

These terms describe the product workflow, not a waiver of your rights. The treating clinician remains responsible for clinical judgment and should explain any material risks and alternatives relevant to your care.