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Safeguarding and operating principles
We work with people who have very little power in the transaction. These are the rules we hold ourselves to.
Clinical decisions belong to clinicians
DOGO does not diagnose, prescribe or direct treatment. Those decisions are made by the qualified doctors and nurses at partner facilities. We are the payer. Neither our staff nor our donors have any say in the medicine a patient receives.
Donors cannot choose a patient
Matching runs in order of who has been waiting longest. Donors cannot browse, select or request a particular person.
This is a safeguarding measure as much as a fairness one. If donors could choose, the youngest and most photogenic patients would be funded quickly and a sixty year old farmer with an ulcer would wait indefinitely. Removing the choice removes that dynamic entirely.
No conditions attached to care
Nobody is asked to perform gratitude, share their story publicly, or be photographed in order to be treated. Treatment is not contingent on a person agreeing to be used in our communications.
Cases must originate with us
Partner clinics cannot create DOGO cases. A case exists only if the person registered at a DOGO stand and was issued a six-digit ID. This prevents a facility inflating patient numbers or billing for people we never met.
A human checks every record
Every case is read by a member of our team before it is matched or published to a donor. See transparency for the full process.
Privacy is not negotiable
No photographs of patients, no surnames, no addresses, no clinical records. Detail on patient privacy.
Raising a concern
If you have a concern about the conduct of anybody representing DOGO, about how a patient has been treated, or about anything else, write to info@dogoapp.org. Concerns are read by a person and are taken seriously. As a registered charity in England and Wales, number 1198719, we are also accountable to the Charity Commission.
What we will not do
- We will not ask for card or bank details in a chat, message or phone call.
- We will not publish a patient's photograph or full name.
- We will not give medical advice. If you are unwell, see a doctor.
- We will not claim a number we cannot show you the working for.
Give someone a treatment
Set up a £5 monthly donation and we will show you exactly who it treated. In Nigeria, £5 covers one person's entire treatment, usually with change.
Three ways to give, all working right now:
- Donate on WhatsApp. The quickest route. Message us and we will set it up inside the chat. No app to install, no forms, no password.
- Dogo Health on the App Store, or on Google Play. Set your amount once and you are matched with a new person automatically each month.
Monthly from £5, one-off from £10. Cancel any time from the app. Questions first? Write to info@dogoapp.org.