Medication review and prescribing: who can prescribe?

Educational only

This guide explains how prescribing works. It does not advise on any medicine. Decisions about medication are for you and a qualified prescriber.

Who can prescribe

In the UK, prescribing is limited to:

• Doctors, including GPs and psychiatrists, registered with the GMC
• Independent prescribers from other professions who hold a recognised prescribing qualification — commonly nurses and pharmacists, and some other registered professionals working within their competence

Practitioner psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors do not generally prescribe. If medication may be part of what you need, check explicitly whether a service includes a prescriber.

How private prescriptions work

A private prescription is issued by the prescriber and dispensed by a pharmacy. You normally pay the pharmacy''s price for the medicine plus any dispensing charge, rather than the NHS prescription charge. Costs vary between pharmacies, and some medicines are considerably more expensive privately.

Certain medicines, including controlled drugs, have additional legal requirements on how they are prescribed and dispensed, and some cannot be issued through remote consultations without further safeguards.

Monitoring

Many mental health medicines require monitoring — this can include blood tests, blood pressure, weight or heart tracing, depending on the medicine. Ask who arranges monitoring, who pays for it, and who reviews the results. A prescribing service without a clear monitoring plan is incomplete.

Shared care and GP handover

People often start medication privately and hope their GP will take over prescribing. That transfer is not automatic. It depends on local arrangements and the GP''s own clinical judgement, and for some medicines it depends on a formal shared care agreement being in place.

Before starting, ask:

1. Will you write to my GP with your recommendation?
2. Have you established whether GPs in my area typically accept shared care for this medicine?
3. If my GP declines, what does continuing privately cost each year, including reviews and monitoring?

Reviews

Medication should be reviewed at intervals rather than repeated indefinitely. Ask how often reviews happen, how long they last, what they cost and who conducts them.

Stopping or changing medication

Never stop or change a prescribed mental health medicine without speaking to a prescriber. Some medicines need to be reduced gradually.

NeuroLynk shows whether a provider declares that it offers prescribing and medication review. We do not advise on medicines and do not supply them.