In most cases, your GP will be happy to issue a NHS prescription for medication which is recommended following a private medical consultation. However, there are some things that our GPs have to take into consideration.
Your GP cannot issue a prescription based solely on a private prescription note from your specialist
Before a NHS prescription can be issued, your GP must have received a letter from the private consultant explaining the precise details of the prescription; what it is being used to treat; how long treatment is intended for; and what monitoring or follow up is required.
Your GP may refuse to issue you with a NHS prescription for the following reasons:
- If your GP considers that there is a not a clear clinical indication for the prescription, and that in the same circumstances a NHS patient would not be being offered this treatment.
- If the private specialist recommends a new or experimental treatment, or recommends prescribing a medication outside of its licensed indication.
- If the medication recommended is not generally provided within the NHS.
- If the medication is of a very specialized nature requiring on-going monitoring, some GPs may feel that they have insufficient expertise to accept responsibility for the prescription.
Your NHS prescription may be slightly different to that which was recommended by your private specialist
We are committed to prescribe from a carefully selected list of medications and in line with local policies (a formulary) which provide the best evidence of efficacy, safety and cost effectiveness to the NHS. If the recommendation from your private specialist is for treatment that is not in the formulary then your GP may change the medication in line with the drugs used for NHS patients locally.