Community & Review Guidelines

Last updated: 10 July 2026

DocReview exists to help people in Sri Lanka find the right doctor through honest, first-hand patient experiences. These Guidelines keep the Platform trustworthy, fair, and lawful. They apply to everyone who posts on DocReview and form part of our Terms of Service.

In short: share your genuine experience, be honest, be fair, and respect the law and other people.

1. Write from genuine, first-hand experience

  • Only review a doctor you (or a dependent you care for) have actually seen or interacted with.
  • One review per genuine experience. Don't post duplicate or repeated reviews to influence a rating.
  • Don't post reviews you were paid, rewarded, or asked to write — positive or negative.
  • Don't review your own practice, a competitor, a family member's practice, or anyone you have a conflict of interest with.

2. Focus on your experience and your opinion

The safest and most helpful reviews describe how you experienced the care rather than making clinical accusations you can't prove.

Encouraged — your experience and honest opinion:

  • "I felt the consultation was rushed and I didn't get to ask my questions."
  • "The staff were kind and the waiting time was short."
  • "In my experience, the doctor explained things clearly and I felt at ease."

Be very careful with — factual claims about clinical competence:

  • Statements like "this doctor misdiagnosed me", "was negligent", "is unqualified", or "gave the wrong treatment" are factual allegations. They can seriously harm a person's reputation and can expose both you and DocReview to legal claims if they are not accurate and cannot be shown to be true.
  • If you describe a factual event, describe what actually happened to you (e.g. "I was prescribed X and later a different doctor changed it") rather than stating a professional conclusion about the doctor's competence.

Why this matters: In Sri Lanka, defamation is a civil matter, and the truth of a statement alone is not always a complete defence. Honest opinions and accurate descriptions of your own experience are far safer than unproven accusations.

3. Be truthful and fair

  • Say only what you honestly believe to be true.
  • Don't exaggerate, fabricate, or leave out context in a misleading way.
  • Distinguish clearly between what you observed/experienced and what you think or feel.

4. Do not post

  • False or misleading statements.
  • Defamatory content or personal attacks intended to damage someone's reputation unfairly.
  • Private or confidential information about the doctor or anyone else — including personal contact details, home addresses, or another patient's information.
  • Sensitive medical details of other people without their consent.
  • Hate speech or content that is discriminatory based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or similar.
  • Threats, harassment, or intimidation.
  • Obscene, sexual, or violent content.
  • Spam, advertising, or promotional content.
  • Impersonation of a doctor, patient, or any other person.
  • Content that infringes copyright or other IP (e.g. photos you don't have rights to).
  • Anything unlawful under Sri Lankan law, including the Computer Crimes Act, No. 24 of 2007.

5. Respect privacy

  • Don't name or identify other patients, staff, or third parties.
  • Don't share screenshots of private messages, medical records, or documents.
  • Remember that reviews are public and searchable.

6. Reviews are opinions, not verified facts

DocReview does not verify the clinical accuracy of reviews. Ratings and reviews reflect individual users' subjective opinions and experiences. For a doctor's official qualifications and registration, always check the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) at [https://slmc.gov.lk].

7. For doctors

If you are a doctor and believe a review is false, unfair, or breaches these Guidelines, you can:

Please note: a review you simply disagree with, or a genuinely-held negative opinion, is not by itself a breach of these Guidelines.

8. What happens if content breaks these Guidelines

We may, at our discretion: edit for formatting, add context, hide, remove, or refuse content; and warn, suspend, or ban repeat or serious offenders. We may also act on content in response to a valid legal notice or court order. See our Terms of Service and Notice-and-Takedown Policy.

9. Reporting

To report a review or profile that breaches these Guidelines, use the "Report" link on the content, or contact info@docreview.lk.