How an online consultation works

What the consultation is actually for

An online consultation is not a form that unlocks a medicine. It is the clinical assessment itself, written down. A prescriber registered with their professional regulator reads it and decides whether treatment is appropriate for you — and a significant proportion of consultations end with the answer that it is not.

That is worth saying plainly, because the shape of these services can suggest otherwise. Nothing about completing a consultation obliges anyone to prescribe, and nothing about paying for an order does either. Prescription-only medicines are prescription-only precisely because a clinician has to stand behind the decision to supply them.

What you are asked

The questionnaire takes about two minutes and covers the things a prescriber needs in order to assess you safely:

• Your height and weight, which give your BMI.
• Your medical history, including conditions you have now and ones you have had.
• Your family history, because some conditions in a close relative change what is safe to prescribe.
• Every medicine you take, prescribed or not — including supplements, herbal remedies and anything bought over a counter. Interactions are one of the commonest reasons treatment is declined or changed.
• Whether you are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding.
• Contraception, where it is relevant to the medicine being considered.
• Your GP’s details, so that we can write to them with your consent.

You need to be 18 or over and living in Great Britain. You can stop part-way through and come back; nothing reaches a prescriber until you submit it.

Answer honestly and in full. The most common reason a consultation goes back to a patient is an answer that is incomplete rather than an answer that is wrong. The second most common reason treatment is unsafe is an answer that was not given at all.

The photographs

You are asked for a photograph of yourself and a photograph of identity documentation. They do two different jobs. The identity document confirms who you are and that you are old enough; the photograph of you supports the clinical picture, because a prescriber assessing a weight management medicine should not be relying only on numbers somebody typed in.

Both are treated as health data, stored encrypted, and deleted on a retention schedule described in our privacy notice. A photograph from a previous order is not reused as evidence for a new one.

What happens after you submit

A prescriber reads the consultation. One of four things follows.

They ask for more information. A question was unclear, an answer needs expanding, or a photograph was not usable. This is a round trip, not a rejection.

They ask you to attend a video consultation. Regulatory expectations for prescribing weight management medicines remotely have tightened, and a prescriber is expected to verify the clinical picture independently rather than accept a questionnaire at face value. A short video appointment is how that is done. Where one is needed, you book a slot and the outcome of the appointment is recorded as part of your clinical file.

They decline. Treatment is not appropriate for you on the information given. The reason is explained. It is not a technicality to be worked around by answering differently.

They approve, and prescribe. They set the medicine and the strength — which is a clinical decision, not a selection you make — and sign the prescription. Our pharmacy dispenses it and sends it with tracking, in plain outer packaging that carries no clinic branding and no description of the contents.

You are not charged for a medicine that is not supplied. Where a payment has been taken and the order is then declined, it is refunded.

What a consultation is not

It is not a diagnosis, and it does not replace your GP. Your GP holds your whole record, can examine you and can see things this service cannot. That is why we write to them when you start treatment, with your consent, and why declining that consent is worth thinking about rather than clicking past.

It is also not a one-off. Before any further supply, a prescriber reviews how the current strength has gone. That review is described in reordering and reviews.

If treatment is declined

Being declined is not a verdict on you and it does not stop you being helped. Free NHS advice on weight is at nhs.uk, NHS weight management services exist in many areas, and your GP is the right person to ask about them. A decline from this service is one clinician’s judgement about one medicine on one day, and it is not the only route there is.