Canada's Private Surgery Access Network · Serving All 10 Provinces & 3 Territories
The important part of this page is not the legal boilerplate. It is section two, which sets out plainly what ACCESS is and what it is not, and section three, which explains why nothing on this website, however carefully written, can substitute for a surgeon looking at your case.
By using this website, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree with them, please do not use the site. If you go on to become a patient whose care we coordinate, the arrangement between us will also be governed by the specific written agreement and the written quote you receive, and where those documents conflict with this page, they take precedence over it.
This is the most important section on this page, so it is written as plainly as we can manage.
ACCESS Surgical Network coordinates care. It does not provide medical or surgical care, and it does not sell surgery.
Funds intended for your providers are handled as a pass-through: held responsibly and released appropriately to the surgeon and the facility that deliver your care. Our own revenue is a separate, clearly disclosed coordination fee, and you will see it identified as such in your quote.
Nothing on this website should be read as ACCESS holding itself out as a medical provider, or as accepting responsibility for the clinical judgement, technique or outcome of any surgeon or facility.
The procedure pages on this site are written carefully, researched properly, and reviewed for accuracy. They still cannot tell you what is wrong with you, and they are not intended to.
Everything here is general information. It does not create a doctor and patient relationship, it is not a diagnosis, and it is not a recommendation for or against any treatment in your particular case. Two people with the same scan can need entirely different operations, and one of them may need none at all. That is precisely why we tell you, repeatedly and in writing, to speak to a surgeon.
Do not use this website to decide whether to have surgery. Do not use it to decide against having surgery either. Use it to arrive at a consultation better informed than you would otherwise have been.
If you are having a medical emergency, stop reading and call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department. ACCESS is not an emergency service, and our enquiry form is not monitored around the clock. Symptoms that need emergency assessment include, among others, severe abdominal pain that will not settle, a hernia that has become hard and painful and cannot be pushed back in, and any loss of bladder or bowel control alongside back pain.
Surgery is medicine, not engineering. Recovery timelines quoted anywhere on this site are typical ranges, not promises, and individual results vary with your anatomy, your general health, the details of your procedure and the effort you put into your rehabilitation.
ACCESS does not guarantee any particular clinical outcome, recovery time, level of pain relief, or return to any activity, sport or occupation. Where we cite figures from published research, we do so to inform your decision, not to predict your result. Your surgeon will discuss what is realistic for you specifically, and will do so honestly, including when the honest answer is unwelcome.
We do not publish prices, because a price quoted without seeing a case is a guess presented as information. Instead, after your case has been reviewed, you receive one written, all-inclusive quote.
When you tell us about your health, please tell us the truth, including the parts that are inconvenient. Your surgeon's assessment of whether you can safely have an operation depends on what you disclose about your medical history, your medications and your general health. Incomplete or inaccurate information can lead to an unsafe recommendation, a cancelled procedure, or a genuinely dangerous situation in theatre.
You confirm that the information you provide is accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge, and that you will tell us promptly if it changes before your procedure.
The text, design, layout, graphics and other content of this website belong to ACCESS Surgical Network or are used with permission, and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws.
You are welcome to read this site, print pages for your own use, and send links to it to whomever you like, including your doctor. You may not copy substantial parts of it, republish it, or use it commercially without our written permission.
This site may link to other websites, and other websites may link to this one. We do not control those sites, we are not responsible for their content or their privacy practices, and a link is not an endorsement. When you leave this site, the terms and policies of the site you arrive at apply, not ours.
This website is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. We take real care over its accuracy, and we correct errors when we find them, but we do not warrant that everything on it is complete, current or free of error, and medical understanding changes over time.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, ACCESS Surgical Network is not liable for any loss or damage arising from your use of, or reliance on, this website, including any decision you make about your health based on what you read here rather than on the advice of a qualified clinician.
Nothing in these terms limits or excludes liability where it cannot lawfully be limited or excluded, and nothing here affects your rights under applicable consumer protection legislation.
Clinical responsibility rests where it belongs. Your surgeon and the facility that treats you are independently responsible for the medical and surgical care they provide. ACCESS is responsible for the coordination services it agrees to provide to you, and for providing them with reasonable skill and care.
How we collect, use, share, protect and retain your personal and health information is set out in our privacy policy, which forms part of these terms. It is written in the same plain language as this page, and it is worth reading before you send us anything about your health.
These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply in it. Any dispute arising out of them is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of Ontario, without prejudice to any rights you may have to bring proceedings in your own province or territory where the law allows it.
We may update these terms from time to time. The date at the top of this page tells you when they were last revised, and your continued use of the site after a change means you accept the revised version.
If anything on this page is unclear, or if you simply want a person to explain it, ask us:
Legal pages are necessary. They are not how we would prefer to answer your questions. Call a coordinator and get a straight answer instead.
