| 1.1 |
The pharmacy has risk assessments in place for the services it provides. But it does not always assess the risks when working with other healthcare practitioners providing weight loss services. For example, prescriptions for weight loss medicines are routinely dispensed to nurses who are not registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This means the supply of some medicines may bypass the UK’s healthcare regulatory framework if all the risks have not been identified and managed appropriately. |
1.1 The pharmacy has risk assessments in place for the services it provides. But it does not always assess the risks when working with other healthcare practitioners providing weight loss services. For example, prescriptions for weight loss medicines are routinely dispensed to nurses who are not registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
This means the supply of some medicines may bypass the UK’s healthcare regulatory framework if all the risks have not been identified and managed appropriately. 1. Implementation of Mandatory CQC Verification at Sign-Up (within 4 weeks from receipt of the finalised report):
o We are updating our prescriber registration page to include a field for CQC registration number during sign-up.
o Prescribers who do not enter this will not be able to prescribe GLP-1 inhibitors on our platform, this will take about 4 weeks for the IT team to implement on the website.
2. Prescription Check (within 10 working days from receipt of the finalised report):
o Our dispensing system will be updated so that every time a prescription for GLP-1 receptor agonists is submitted, the prescriber’s CQC registration number will be checked, by a member of staff. (SOP attached)
o If no valid CQC number is present on the prescriber’s profile, the prescription will be refused.
3. Interim Safeguards for Existing Prescribers (within 10 working days from receipt of the finalised report):
o Any existing prescriber submitting a prescription for GLP-1 medications will be contacted directly to request their CQC registration number.
o Once received, the number will be stored securely on their account and linked for all future GLP-1 prescription verifications, if they cannot provide a CQC registration any further prescriptions from that prescriber for GLP-1 medications will be refused.
4. Audit and Monitoring (from week 5 onwards):
o The pharmacy team will conduct monthly audits to ensure full compliance with this requirement and that no GLP-1 prescriptions are being dispensed from unverified prescribers.
10 working days from receipt of the finalised report Superintendent pharmacist/ responsible pharmacist/staff |
13/06/2025 |
27/05/2025 |
