How sponsored placements work on HospitalWaits

Sponsored placements do not influence our editorial analysis, rankings, methodology, or commentary. Every figure on the site is calculated from public NHS data using the formulas documented on /methodology. That stays true whether a sponsor is involved or not.

We will not:

• Adjust a trust's ranking or Wait Score because of a commercial relationship.
• Hide CQC criticism or quality issues affecting a sponsor.
• Recommend any private hospital, insurer, or service over another.
• Allow sponsors to review or veto our editorial coverage of their organisations.

Mustafa retains final editorial control of every page on the site. Pulling out of a sponsorship deal is always available and never modifies prior editorial.

Where a sponsored element appears on a page, it will:

• Carry a clearly visible Sponsored badge of at least equal visual weight to the listing it sits within.
• Appear visually distinct from editorial content (e.g., a bordered card or shaded background) so no reasonable reader could mistake it for a Doctor Data Ltd recommendation.
• Include the language "Sponsored placements do not influence our editorial analysis" in the page footer wherever sponsored content appears.
• Be tagged with rel="sponsored" on outbound links per Google's link-spam policy.

The standard pattern is the one used by Money Saving Expert and the BMJ — loud, machine-readable disclosure.

Acceptable forms of sponsored placement include:

• Top placement of the sponsor's listing on relevant trust × specialty pages (with the badge above).
• Sponsored editorial articles in /insights, clearly labelled "In partnership with [sponsor]".
• Co-branded data analyses or quarterly reports.
• A "Get a quote" CTA branded with the sponsor's logo (tagged as sponsored, with disclosure).

What sponsorship cannot buy:

• Editorial recommendation language without evidence.
• Any modification of NHS RTT analysis or methodology.
• Suppression of CQC or PHIN-derived quality data.
• Links not marked rel="sponsored".

We participate in affiliate programmes with private medical insurers (Bupa, AXA, Vitality, ActiveQuote and similar). When you click a link from our content to one of these partners and subsequently buy a policy, we may receive a commission.

Every such link will:

• Be clearly labelled as an affiliate link in immediate context.
• Carry a footer disclosure on every page that contains them.
• Use rel="sponsored" on outbound clicks.

We have not personally vetted these insurers. For impartial comparisons, also consult Defaqto, FCA-regulated brokers, and independent financial advice services.

Once a year, Mustafa runs a full review of every page on the site against the disclosure standard above. Findings are published openly. If we find drift, we fix it visibly.

If you think any item on this site is misleadingly presented, or that our editorial has been compromised, please email mustafa@doctor-data.co.uk. Direct to me, the founder. I respond.