Terms of Service

ClinicalConnect is operated by Newtown Clinical Research Centre(“we”, “us”). These terms apply to everyone who uses the website at clinicalconnect.co.za. By creating an account you agree to them. If you do not agree, please do not use the platform.

Newtown Clinical Research Centre also conducts clinical research of its own and is one of the organisations that may recruit through the platform. We disclose this so that patients and other organisations can take it into account.

Nothing on ClinicalConnect is medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The platform does not assess whether a trial is safe or suitable for you. Do not stop, start or change any medication or treatment because of anything you see here — speak to your doctor.

A match means only that your profile shares characteristics with a trial's recruitment criteria. The research team decides eligibility, and participation in any trial is governed by that trial's own informed-consent documents and its ethics approval, not by these terms.

To register you must:

• be 18 or older;
• register only yourself, with information that is true and that you keep up to date; and
• keep your password private — you are responsible for activity on your account.

Registration is free. You choose which research organisations may see your profile and how they may contact you, and you can change those choices, correct your health information, or delete your profile at any time from your profile page. You are never obliged to respond to an organisation that contacts you, or to take part in any trial.

We check in every two years to confirm you still want your profile, and delete it if you don't respond — see clause 7 of the Privacy Notice.

Organisation accounts are for bona fide clinical research sites and sponsors. We may verify your organisation before activating an account and may decline or withdraw access at our discretion. By using an organisation account, you and every member of your team agree that you will:

• use patient information only to recruit for trials you have listed on the platform, and for no other purpose — including marketing, sale, or research the patient has not been approached about;
• recruit only for trials that hold the ethics committee approval and regulatory authorisation (including from SAHPRA where applicable) that South African law requires;
• comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act. Information you export or copy into your own systems is in your care: keep it secure, do not share it further, and delete it once it is no longer needed for recruitment;
• honour a patient's request not to be contacted, and never contact a patient on a channel they have not consented to;
• keep your team's logins individual and secure, and remove members who leave; and
• tell us promptly at mmitha7860@gmail.com if you suspect patient information has been accessed or disclosed without authority.

Fees, plan limits and billing are as agreed when your subscription is activated. Every outreach message is sent only after a person at your organisation approves it.

No one may:

• register on someone else's behalf or impersonate another person or organisation;
• attempt to access data or accounts they are not entitled to, or probe or disrupt the platform's security;
• scrape, bulk-download or systematically extract data other than through the features we provide; or
• use the platform for anything unlawful, or to send messages unrelated to clinical trial recruitment.

You may close your account at any time. We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms, puts patients' information at risk, or is inactive, and — for organisations — where fees are unpaid. Where it is safe and lawful to do so, we will tell you why.

We work to keep ClinicalConnect available and accurate, but provide it “as is”. We cannot guarantee that it will be uninterrupted, that any patient will be matched to a trial, or that any organisation will fill its recruitment targets.

To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for decisions made by research organisations or patients. Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under the Consumer Protection Act or the Protection of Personal Information Act, or our liability for gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

We may update these terms as the platform develops. We will change the date at the top of this page, and where a change materially affects you we will tell you on a channel you have consented to before it takes effect. Continuing to use the platform after that means you accept the updated terms.

These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa, and South African courts have jurisdiction over any dispute. Questions or complaints about these terms can be sent to mmitha7860@gmail.com.