Important Notice for Patients and Private Providers

Many UK practices are being approached by private providers to review patients' notes to ensure the safety of prescribing GLP-1 agonists.  This attempts to shift responsibility for prescribing initiated by other organisations onto the practice.

General Practice is currently under extreme pressure and connot take on unfunded, non-contractual work for externam providers. Given the existing workload, there is no guarantee that such reviews could be completed within the requested timeframe.

According to GMC regulations, it is the responsibility of the prescribing clinician to ensure their prescribing is safe[1]. This includes taking an adequate history, examining the patient, and conducting any necessary pre-prescribing investigations. NICE guidelines also require patient examinations, including accurate weight measurements at initial assessment and regular reviews[2]. The General Pharmaceutical Council [3] expects similar professional behaviour.

Private providers should not expect NHS GPs to perform this private work. NHS practice appointments should not be requested to record or verify monitoring information. Non-response from a GP should not be interpreted as agreement that there are no contraindications to prescribing medications.

Patients are encouraged to request a summary sheet of their current medications and major diagnoses, to share with the provider. Alternatively, a medical report may be commissioned and released upon payment of our fee.

Thank you for your understanding.

References

[1] Good practice in proposing, prescribing, providing and managing ... - GMC

[2] Medicines optimisation: the safe and effective use of medicines ... - NICE

[3] Standards for pharmacy professionals | General Pharmaceutical Council

For women under age 55 years prescribed weight loss injections privately

Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) may mean that your contraception pills do not work effectively. If you are using the contraceptive pill, please use condoms for four weeks after each dose change, to avoid an unwanted pregnancy.  Please contact the practice for a routine appointment if you want to discuss your contraception. Please see below link for comprehensive guidance from FRSH regarding weight loss injections and contraception.

https://www.google.com/search?q=patient-information-glp-1-agonists-and-contraception.pd

For women prescribed weight loss injections privately and prescribed oral combined HRT or oral progesterone (Medroxyprogesterone / Norethisterone / Utrogestan) in combination with oestrogen patch / spray / gel 

Weight loss injections may have an impact on the effectiveness of your HRT to adequately protect your endometrium (womb lining). Please do contact the practice for a routine review so that we can discuss potential alternatives.  There are new guidelines regarding this and the GP or Practice Pharmacist can discuss this with you.