Private prescriptions in London: how a GP review works

The bottle has run out and your own GP is miles away. Or the paper script went missing, a new symptom needs treating, or you take a controlled medicine and need it written up while you're in London. Each of those is a slightly different appointment, and picking the right one saves you a wasted trip.

Whichever it is, the answer starts the same way: you see a doctor in person at 117a Harley Street, rather than by video or post. Dr Mohammad Bakhtiar, GMC 4694470, is clinical lead for GP prescription services, and the clinic has been in the same building since 1984 and is CQC-registered. The doctor you see issues a prescription when it's clinically appropriate after reviewing your request and the evidence you bring. They may approve it, decline it, or suggest a full GP consultation instead.

If you'd rather skip the reading, you can book a prescription appointment seven days a week: Monday to Friday 09:00 to 18:00, and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 to 14:00. A repeat review is £50, a full GP consultation for a new medicine or symptom is £150, and controlled-drugs transcription is £250. If you're unsure which appointment fits, call 0207 499 1991 before you book.

Which prescription appointment do I need?

It depends on whether your medicine is new to you, already established, or a controlled drug someone else has already prescribed.

The three kinds of prescription appointment

The simple test is whether a doctor has already assessed this medicine for you. A new cough, a new pain or a medicine you've never taken needs the full consultation. An established tablet with the original paperwork suits the shorter review. If you book the shorter review and the request turns out to be new, the doctor will suggest the full consultation instead.

How does the repeat review work?

The repeat review is a clinical look at a medicine that's already established for you, when you've run out, lost a script or forgotten a supply that another doctor has already judged appropriate. It's still a doctor in the room, and the decision is still theirs.

Bring whatever shows the medicine's name, the dose and who issued it: the box, the pharmacy label, a copy of the script or a clinic letter. The doctor weighs your request against your history and that evidence, and may approve it, decline it, or ask you to book the full GP consultation instead.

This follows the same thinking as NICE guideline NG5, which treats a medication review as a structured look at whether a medicine is still appropriate, how well it works, how safe it is, and whether any monitoring is still needed. Your health can change between prescriptions, and the review is there to catch that.

The clinic may contact the original prescriber or your regular GP to check the dose or dates, particularly for long-term treatment with incomplete paperwork. If you'd rather they didn't, say so, bearing in mind the doctor may then have too little to go on.

What if I need a new medicine?

First-time requests, new medicines, new symptoms and anything clinically complex are seen in a full GP consultation, in person and with no fixed time limit. If the doctor prescribes during that paid consultation, there's no separate clinic fee for issuing the prescription. Whatever you pay at the pharmacy is separate.

This is the appointment for working out whether a medicine is right for this problem and for you. A new symptom hasn't been assessed yet, a medicine you've never taken has no record of how you responded, and a complex request may involve several conditions, other medicines or recent hospital changes. Bring a list of everything you take, including over-the-counter and complementary products, because NG5 asks clinicians to consider all of them, not just the item you came in for.

How does controlled-drugs transcription work?

Transcription means writing up an existing, evidenced prescription in a form a UK pharmacy can dispense, once a doctor here has reviewed it and agreed it's still appropriate. Continuing an existing controlled drug always needs a clinician review: some can be continued by a GP, and others need the consultant psychiatrist. You'll need evidence of the previous script and identification, the clinic may contact the original prescriber, and the doctor you see still decides whether to prescribe.

Controlled drugs aren't started on a transcription appointment. If you need an initial controlled-drugs prescription, that assessment sits with consultant psychiatry, with Dr Ahmed Shoka, Consultant Psychiatrist, GMC 4573207. Any prescription there is subject to his clinical judgement.

What will I pay, and where?

The clinic fee is for the review. If a prescription is issued, you take it to a dispensing pharmacy and pay them for the medicine. Private prescriptions aren't covered by the flat NHS prescription charge, so you pay the market cost of the medicine plus any dispensing fee the pharmacy applies. That varies by drug and supplier, so it's worth asking the pharmacy for the price before they dispense.

This can come as a surprise if you're used to NHS general practice in England, where the charge is a known flat figure or nothing at all if you're exempt. Pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacies in Great Britain are regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council.

A few things that help

• If you're visiting London, bring more paperwork rather than less. We don't hold your NHS record, so the evidence you bring is what the doctor works from.
• If you have the box, label, script copy or clinic letter, bring it, along with a list of everything else you take and some identification.
• If you're not sure which appointment you need, call 0207 499 1991 before booking.
• If a prescription is issued, ask the pharmacy about the market cost and dispensing fee before they dispense.
• If you have collapsed, have chest pain, trouble breathing or a suspected overdose, call 999 or go to A&E. For urgent problems that aren't life-threatening, use NHS 111.

Related reading: when to see a private GP and choosing between a GP and a psychiatrist.