THE SHORT VERSION
- Check who assesses you, who prescribes and who supplies the medicine.
- Verify registrations directly and ask how you will get help after your first order.
Start with the people behind the website
A brand name does not tell you the whole story. One company may arrange the consultation while another pharmacy dispenses the medicine. Ask for the legal names, registration details and contact information for both. In Great Britain, check pharmacy registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council. Northern Ireland has its own pharmacy regulator.
The professional assessing you should explain their role and how to check their registration. A reassuring logo or a low price is not a substitute for those checks.
Understand the route used to supply your medicine
An independent prescriber can assess a person and issue a prescription within their competence. Some healthcare services use a patient group direction, or PGD: a written instruction that allows specified professionals to supply or administer a medicine to people who meet its criteria. A PGD is not a personal prescription and is not a blanket MHRA endorsement of the service.
Ask the provider which route applies to your medicine and what happens if you fall outside its criteria. If someone offers a product that differs from the licensed UK medicine you expected, ask a pharmacist to explain its status and the reason. Unlicensed supply has specific legal conditions; it should never be presented as an ordinary interchangeable bargain.
Compare the care you can actually use
Ask how the service checks your medical history, current medicines and suitability, and how it communicates with your usual healthcare team. Find out who answers questions, the expected response time, how repeat orders are reviewed and what happens if treatment needs to stop.
For a clinic in England, check whether its activities require Care Quality Commission registration. Other UK nations have different service regulators. Registration does not replace your own questions about the particular care on offer.
Put the total cost alongside the support
Check consultation charges, first-order and repeat prices, delivery, subscription terms and cancellation conditions. Save a copy of the terms before paying. Our price tables help you start a cost comparison; our provider checklist helps you ask about the rest.
Sources you can check
- GPhC: public register
- MHRA: patient group directions and who can use them
- MHRA: supply of unlicensed medicinal products (specials)
- Care Quality Commission: find a care service
Editorial presentation updated 24 October 2026. This is general information, not individual medical advice or a claim of independent clinical review. Read the linked source and the leaflet supplied with your medicine for the full context. Suggest a correction.