Getting a prescription in the UK, and the medicines

Who can prescribe a GLP-1 in the UK?

Any registered prescriber, within the rules. In practice there are two routes: the NHS, or a private service you pay for.

All GLP-1 medicines are prescription-only medicines in the UK.¹ Prescribers include doctors and some pharmacists and nurses who have trained as independent prescribers. Online pharmacies may use a pharmacist prescriber.¹⁸

On the NHS, who prescribes depends on the medicine and where you live: your GP for Mounjaro in England's priority groups, or a specialist weight management service for Wegovy.^2,3 Privately, a prescriber may prescribe within the licence: a BMI of 30 or more, or 27 to 29.9 with a weight-related condition.^23,24

The UK regulator's review found that most people get these medicines privately: "Access to weight management medicines is usually via private services."¹⁹

How do I get one on the NHS?

It depends on which of the four nations you live in. In each, the NHS bar is much higher than the licence.

For type 2 diabetes, GLP-1 medicines are prescribed by your GP or diabetes team. NICE's 2026 guidance says to consider one for people living with obesity once their first diabetes medicines have had at least 3 months.⁵

Don't book about Mounjaro unless your area says to. Some local NHS areas contact eligible patients directly and ask people not to book GP appointments about it unless invited.⁹ If you already pay privately, the same NHS criteria apply to you.² Guide 4 sets out each nation's thresholds, including the lower ones for some ethnic groups.

What does an NHS prescription cost?

Nothing in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. £9.90 an item in England, unless you're exempt. One pen counts as one item.

Private prescriptions are different. You pay the full price the service charges, and free-prescription rules and exemptions don't apply.

What rules do private and online services follow?

Since February 2025, an online prescriber must check your weight and history for themselves before supplying a weight-loss medicine. A questionnaire alone is not enough.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) regulates pharmacies in England, Scotland and Wales. Its 2025 guidance treats weight-loss medicines as "high-risk" when sold at a distance.¹⁷ The prescriber:

• Can't rely on an online form alone. They have to check what you tell them through two-way contact, your medical records, or your GP.¹⁷
• Must check your weight, height or BMI before supplying, by a video consultation, in person, from your clinical records, or by contacting your GP or another healthcare provider.^17,18
• Can't use a phone call to check it. A photo or pre-recorded video from you is not enough on its own either. Photos may be used for repeat supplies, once your weight was first checked another way.¹⁸
• Should tell your regular prescriber, such as your GP, with your consent. If they can't check your details, they should point you to another care provider instead.¹⁸

The rules matter because problems are common. Between January 2024 and December 2025, the GPhC received 1,307 concerns about weight-loss medicines. About a quarter were about prescribing.¹⁹

How do I check an online pharmacy?

Look it up on the official register. In Great Britain that's the GPhC; in Northern Ireland, the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI).²¹

1. Find the registration number and the pharmacy's address on its website.
2. Search the GPhC register. It shows whether a pharmacy is registered.²¹ For Northern Ireland, use the PSNI's register.²¹
3. Check the details match: the name, the address and that the registration is current.

What should a proper consultation include?

Questions about your health and medicines, your weight checked properly, and a plan for follow-up.

There's no single official checklist for a GLP-1 consultation. This list brings together what the GPhC rules, NICE and the medicines' labels say a prescriber should check.^17,3,36

• Your history. The US label rules these medicines out if you or your family have had medullary thyroid cancer, or you have MEN 2 (multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2, a rare inherited condition). Tell your doctor if this applies.³⁶ Past pancreatitis or gallstones matter too.³⁶
• Your other medicines. Insulin, or diabetes tablets like gliclazide, can cause low sugar (hypos) when combined with a GLP-1.³⁶ The dose of those may need to drop.
• Your weight, checked. By video, in person or from your records, not just typed into a form.¹⁸ If your family background is South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean, NICE uses lower BMI thresholds.¹¹ Guide 1 explains the numbers.
• Eyes, if you have diabetes. The label warns about worse eye disease (retinopathy) in people who already have it.³⁶
• Pregnancy and contraception. Stop semaglutide at least 2 months, and tirzepatide at least 1 month, before trying to get pregnant. On Mounjaro, add a condom to the pill for 4 weeks after starting and after each dose increase.¹
• Any surgery or procedure coming up. These medicines slow how fast the stomach empties, so food can still be there under anaesthetic. Tell the team doing the procedure that you take one.³⁶
• A follow-up plan. Who you contact with side effects, and a review at 6 months: NICE says to consider stopping Wegovy if you've lost less than 5% of your weight by then.³

What are the red flags with a pharmacy, clinic or app?

Walk away if you can't check who they are, if nobody checks your weight properly, or if the medicine comes from social media or a salon.

• Not on the registerPharmacies in Great Britain must be registered with the GPhC, and in Northern Ireland with the PSNI.²¹
  Shows its registration number and address, and both check out on the register.
• Just a questionnairePrescribing on an online form alone breaks the GPhC's rules for weight-loss medicines.¹⁷
  Checks your weight by video, in person or from your records, and asks to tell your GP.¹⁸
• "Send us a photo" or a quick callA phone call, or a photo alone, isn't an acceptable first weight check.¹⁸
  A live video or in-person check the first time.
• Social media, a salon, or "no prescription needed"The MHRA says never to buy these medicines from beauty salons or through social media.¹
  Supplied only by a registered pharmacy, after a clinical assessment.²¹
• A powder to mix, or a "research" productPowder-in-vial GLP-1 products are not authorised in the UK.¹ Retatrutide is unlicensed, and the MHRA has seized illegal pens of it.³⁴
  A UK-licensed pen or tablet in its sealed pack.
• Ads for "weight-loss jabs"Prescription-only medicines can't be advertised to the public, and terms like "weight-loss injection" count even without a brand name.²²
  Offers a consultation first; the medicine is discussed only after it.

Which GLP-1 medicines are licensed in the UK, and for what?

Five medicines. Semaglutide, tirzepatide and orforglipron have brands for weight; Ozempic, Rybelsus and Trulicity are for type 2 diabetes only.

The medicine is what works in your body; the brand is the name on the box. Paracetamol is a medicine; Panadol and Calpol are brands of it. One medicine can have several brands, each licensed for different uses.¹

Diabetes licensed for type 2 diabetes Weight licensed for weight management

Medicine pages: Semaglutide Tirzepatide Liraglutide Dulaglutide

Brand or generic: what's the difference?

A generic is the same medicine made by another company once the patent ends. In the UK, only liraglutide has generics so far.³⁰

The Electronic Medicines Compendium, which holds the official UK product information, lists six generic liraglutide brands: Biolide, Diavic, Liraglutide Biocon, Nevolat, Plaobes and Zegluxen (alphabetical, not a ranking).³⁰ The MHRA says liraglutide is sold under various brand names and its licensed use is brand-specific.¹

We found no UK-licensed generic semaglutide or tirzepatide. Anything sold as one in the UK is not a licensed product.^30,1

Switching between brands is a prescriber's decision. Pens of different brands can come in different strengths.

Pen or tablet: does it matter?

UK-licensed GLP-1 injections come in pre-filled pens that measure the dose for you. Tablets need a strict routine, which differs by brand.

PenPre-filled, dose setA Wegovy FlexTouch or Mounjaro KwikPen holds 4 weekly doses. The Wegovy 7.2 mg pen holds one dose.^23,24,28 Never share a pen, even with a new needle.³⁶

TabletDaily, with brand-specific rulesWegovy tablets: swallow whole after fasting for at least 8 hours, with a sip of water, then no food or drink for at least 30 minutes.²⁵ Foundayo: any time of day, with no food or water rules.²⁶

How do I spot a fake, and store it right?

Fake pens have been found in the UK, including one supplied through an online pharmacy. Only use a pack from a registered pharmacy, against your prescription.^32,33

In October 2023, the MHRA warned that fake Ozempic and Saxenda pens had been found in the UK.³³ In February 2026, it warned of a fake Mounjaro KwikPen 15 mg, batch D873576, supplied through one UK online pharmacy. It was noticed because the dose knob came off while in use.³²

In October 2025, the MHRA found the UK's first illegal factory making weight-loss pens, and seized more than 2,000 unlicensed retatrutide and tirzepatide pens.³⁴

What are the official list prices?

For Mounjaro, £133 to £330 for 4 weekly doses (one pen), depending on the dose, since 1 September 2025. These are list prices before VAT, not what a private service charges you.^2,35

A list price is what the maker charges, published by NICE in its appraisals. The NHS pays a confidential discount.^2,3 Private services set their own prices, which usually include their consultation and delivery, so they differ from these figures and from each other. We don't show sellers' prices.

Mounjaro (tirzepatide), weekly pen

NICE TA1026, section 2.3, excluding VAT. Checked 12 Oct 2026.²

Wegovy (semaglutide), weekly FlexTouch pen

NICE TA875, section 2.3, excluding VAT, published March 2023. We could not find a newer official list price. Checked 12 Oct 2026.³

What does a year cost?

On the NHS, little or nothing. Privately, the medicine alone at list price comes to between about £2,300 and £3,800 a year for Mounjaro, depending on your dose. Private services set their own prices.

On the NHS. A year of weekly pens is 13 items. In England that's £128.70 at £9.90 each, or £114.50 with a 12-month prepayment certificate. It's free with a diabetes exemption, and free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.^{12,13,14,15,16}

Privately, at list price. Here is a worked example for Mounjaro, using the list prices above. We count 6 months as 26 weekly doses and 12 months as 52. The UK label starts at 2.5 mg for 4 weeks, then goes to 5 mg; after that, the dose can rise by 2.5 mg at a time, at least 4 weeks apart, up to 15 mg.²⁴ This is an example for the sum, not a suggestion; your prescriber decides your dose.

Staying on 5 mg: one 2.5 mg pen (£133), then 5 mg at £180 a pen (£45 a dose): 22 more doses by 6 months (£990) and 48 by 12 months (£2,160). Rising to 15 mg: one pen each of 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 and 12.5 mg for the first 20 weeks (£133 + £180 + £255 + £255 + £330 = £1,153), then 15 mg at £330 a pen (£82.50 a dose): 6 more doses by 6 months (£495) and 32 by 12 months (£2,640). List prices exclude VAT and any service fees.^2,24

Budget in years, not months: Guide 9 covers what happens when you stop. We found no UK private medical insurer that confirmed it covers these medicines; check your own policy in writing before you count on it.

Questions people ask