Please be aware that our practice does not post prescriptions. Every effort is made to send prescriptions electronically. However, due to NHS infrastructure, electronic prescribing is not available outside of England or for private prescriptions. If you are a GP at Hand registered patient in Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland and need a prescription, you will need to access local healthcare services.
If a private prescription is required, it must be collected in person from our Drummond Street clinic reception (NW1 3HP). These prescriptions must be printed and signed. Once your prescription is ready, our Front of House team will notify you via SMS. When collecting, please provide your full name, date of birth, and postcode to the receptionist.
Please note: Prescriptions not collected within 28 days will be securely destroyed.
The NHS are gradually rolling out Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) for weight loss.
This roll out is starting with those who have a BMI over 40 kg/m2 PLUS four or more weight-related conditions.
The criteria are very strict – you can read more here. Tirzepatide will only be prescribed by the NHS as part of a comprehensive treatment plan developed by a multidisciplinary team. This means that anyone prescribed the drug must also engage with weight management support, including lifestyle changes, behavioural advice, and increased physical activity.
Our local NHS requires us to refer anyone who meets the criteria for Tirezepatide treatment to specialist weight management services, and at present NHS GPs are NOT allowed to prescribe these medications directly.
If you’re living with obesity or weight-related health issues, we understand that the journey can be emotional, frustrating, and difficult. The NHS website also has advice on making changes to your lifestyle to help you lose weight. Tips to help you lose weight – NHS
If you want to know more about Mounjaro, or GLP-1 medication in general, please see
Last updated: 16th July 2025. We will update this information as soon as this changes.
Once you have signed up on the NHS App and verified your identity, you will have access to:
- View your medical record
- View your test results
- View any letters or attachments on your record
- Request repeat prescriptions
- View any messages sent by us
To access these services, you should go to Your health in the NHS App. You can then view your medical record using the GP health record option.
What is a Shared Care Agreement?
A Shared Care Agreement (SCA) is a formal arrangement between an NHS hospital specialist and a GP, allowing care to be safely shared between both services. It is used when a patient starts a specialist medicine or treatment in hospital that may need ongoing prescriptions or monitoring from their GP.
Before your care is transferred to your GP, the specialist must ensure:
- You are stable on the treatment
- All monitoring and follow-up arrangements are clearly outlined
- Your GP has agreed to take over prescribing and monitoring responsibilities
Shared Care is designed to support safe, joined-up care. Your hospital or specialist remains involved, and they are responsible for providing clear advice and support throughout. Shared care agreements are typically developed for specialist drugs or medications that require ongoing monitoring, such as: ADHD medications, specialist arthritis medications, specialist skin medications, and some specialist drugs with known side effects.
Your GP can only take over shared care if they feel it is safe and appropriate to do so — it is not automatic. The hospital or specialist team must continue prescribing until your GP formally agrees to take over. All Shared Care arrangements in the NHS are voluntary — GPs can decline requests if they do not feel it is safe or manageable.
Can my private specialist arrange Shared Care with my NHS GP?
Shared Care Agreements (SCAs) are generally only established between NHS specialists and NHS GPs. These agreements allow a safe, planned transfer of prescribing and monitoring responsibilities when it is clinically appropriate and agreed by all parties.
Shared Care is not normally available for private patients. If you are under the care of a private consultant, they remain fully responsible for:
- Prescribing your medication
- Providing any required monitoring or tests
- Managing your ongoing care
If you are currently receiving prescriptions from a private provider and do not have an agreed shared care arrangement in place with us, you will need to continue obtaining your prescription from your private service provider. Unfortunately, we will not be able to take over these prescriptions.
NHS GPs are not obligated to take over prescribing initiated privately, nor arrange monitoring for medication prescribed privately. This is supported by national guidance from the British Medical Association (BMA), which states that GPs are not expected to enter into shared care arrangements with private providers due to issues of governance, clinical responsibility, and potential health inequalities.
Why not? It’s about safe and equitable NHS care
The NHS Constitution promotes equitable care, meaning access to NHS services should be fair and based on clinical need — not ability to pay. Offering shared care support to private patients risks creating unfair advantages and undermines this principle.
Unless your private provider is delivering a commissioned NHS service (for example via a Right to Choose pathway), they cannot usually enter into shared care with your NHS GP. In such cases, allowing private-initiated treatments to be picked up in the NHS without proper governance could compromise clinical safety, governance, and transparency.
What can I do if I want NHS support?
If you want your NHS GP to take over prescribing:
- You will need to be referred to an NHS consultant for review and approval of the treatment.
- If the NHS consultant agrees, they may initiate a formal Shared Care Agreement.
- Your GP will then consider whether to accept shared care based on safety, capacity, and clinical suitability.
Your prescriptions will be sent to your nominated pharmacy.
You can change your nominated pharmacy in the NHS App, or by letting your Clinician know in your appointment.
If you wish to collect a prescription from a different pharmacy as a one-off, perhaps because your medication is not in stock at your usual pharmacy, you should ask the pharmacy to send your prescription back to the NHS spine and to give you the prescription barcode.
You can then take the barcode to any pharmacy in England that you would like your prescription dispensed from. If you do not have the barcode but the pharmacy have confirmed they have sent the prescription back to the NHS spine, the new pharmacy will still able to find your prescription (you may be asked to confirm your full name, date of birth and address).
