Private prescribing in the UK: what is actually involved Writing it up because I had to work it out twice and would rather nobody else did.
I would like to know what people here actually do about Private prescribing, as distinct from what is usually recommended. Those have diverged in every other subject I have looked at closely.
Mine is below, with the reasoning, including the parts I am not confident about.
Private prescribing is legal and widespread, including through remote consultation. Pharmacies must satisfy themselves that a prescription is clinically appropriate. Expect to be asked for measurements and history.
That is where I would start, not where I would stop.
Adding the measurement that the opening post says would settle it.
Members outside these two jurisdictions reading this thread should note that none of it transfers, including the parts that sound general.
This is the version I would want a new member to read first.
Availability through a private route and availability through the public system are separate questions and both change independently.
Private prescribing arrangements differ in what they include, and the differences are more consequential than the headline price.
Happy to be the one who is wrong here if it settles the question.
Right — I had this wrong and I am glad to have read it before it mattered.
Picking up post #5: that is the part I would want checked first.
Answering the Private prescribing question as asked, then the question I think is meant. As asked: yes, with the qualification below. As meant: it depends on how the first measurement was taken.
A methods point on Private prescribing rather than a substantive one: if the comparison is not like for like, the difference you are measuring is the difference in method.
The most useful contribution is a link to the current official page with the date you accessed it. That survives; a paraphrase does not.
Adding a small correction to the Private prescribing summary above rather than a disagreement with it. The substance holds; one of the figures is out by a factor that matters.
Post #14 answers the question as asked. The question underneath it is different.
Correcting an out-of-date claim in this subcategory with a source and a date is more valuable than a new topic on the same question.
It is a small point and it changes the answer, which is an awkward combination.
Ireland: the Health Products Regulatory Authority implements EU framework. Prescription-only. Reimbursement for weight management has been more restrictive than for diabetes. Private prescription at full cost is usual for weight management.
Somebody will have a better source than mine, and I hope they post it.
The version of Private prescribing that I was taught turned out to be a teaching simplification. Useful, and not true in the way I had assumed it was.
Adding the measurement that post #18 says would settle it.
Cross-border arrangements: some people source from other EU countries. Rules on import for personal use are changing post-Brexit. Current status requires checking with UKVI.
I would want a second opinion before relying on that.
Post #16 describes the usual case. This is about the unusual one.
Private prescribing was covered in the wiki last year and the page has a review date on it, which is a better starting point than my memory of a thread.
I read post #21 twice before replying, because I had assumed the opposite.
MHRA is the regulator. Licensed incretin analogues are prescription-only medicines. NHS and private prescribing routes exist with materially different access criteria and costs.
Post #21 answers the question as asked. The question underneath it is different.
Filing a mild objection to the consensus on Private prescribing. Mild because I might be wrong; an objection because nobody has addressed the case that does not fit.
MHRA is the regulator. Licensed incretin analogues are prescription-only medicines. NHS and private prescribing routes exist with materially different access criteria and costs.
Same conclusion as the reply above, reached differently, which is mildly reassuring.
Where I part company with post #26, and it is a narrow parting.
Nothing in this subcategory is medical or legal advice, and prescribers reading here consistently say so themselves.
Private prescribing is legal and widespread, including through remote consultation. Pharmacies must satisfy themselves that a prescription is clinically appropriate. Expect to be asked for measurements and history.
I would be interested in a counterexample if anyone has one.