Managing Prescribing from Private Providers 

GP practices are increasingly receiving correspondence from private providers, such as online pharmacies, regarding prescriptions issued without complete patient medical histories. This guidance outlines the best practices for handling these situations.

Date published:
Date last updated:
Next review date:

Overview 

Private providers are responsible for assessing whether treatment is appropriate, obtaining sufficient clinical information and prescribing safely. GP practices may occasionally be asked to provide additional information, confirm aspects of a patient’s medical history, or comment on the suitability of proposed treatment.

Practices should ensure that any disclosure of patient information is supported by an appropriate legal basis, usually the patient’s consent. While practices may choose to share relevant factual information from the medical record, they are not generally required to undertake additional clinical review work or assume responsibility for prescribing decisions made by another clinician.

This page outlines key principles for managing requests from private providers, protecting patient confidentiality and maintaining appropriate professional boundaries.

Key Principles 

Prescriber Responsibility: 

  • The primary responsibility for safe prescribing lies with the clinician who issues the prescription. 
  • Private providers must ensure they have complete and accurate patient information before prescribing. 

Patient Responsibility: 

  • Patients have a duty to disclose relevant medical history to the prescriber. 
  • If the patient chooses not to share their history, this is ultimately their responsibility. 

GP Practice Responsibility: 

  • GPs should not proactively verify the safety of private prescriptions unless there is a clear clinical concern. 

  • If a known contraindication exists, practices must consider their duty of care while also maintaining patient confidentiality. 

Responding to Private Providers 

When practices receive letters from private providers regarding prescribed medications, the attached templates can be used.

Why This Approach? 

This guidance helps practices manage their duty of care without overstepping boundaries or breaching confidentiality. It also reinforces the principle that the responsibility for safe prescribing remains with the private provider.