Check if You Qualify for FREE NHS Support With New Medicines

The service is a potentially two-part virtual consultation, funded by the NHS, at no cost to you.

It helps you find out more about your new medicine and how it works, sort out any problems you're experiencing, ask questions and discuss concerns with a clinician, discover easier or more effective ways to take your medication, make your own informed decisions about managing your condition, and improve your health, which could lead to fewer GP and hospital visits.

You may qualify for the NMS if you have been prescribed a new medication for any of the following long-term conditions.

• Respiratory: Asthma, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)

• Cardiovascular: Hypertension, Hypercholesterolaemia, Heart failure, Acute coronary syndrome, Atrial fibrillation, Coronary heart disease, Heart attack, Stroke / transient ischaemic attack (TIA), Venous thromboembolism (VTE), Embolism

• Metabolic & Musculoskeletal: Type 2 diabetes, Osteoporosis, Gout.

• Neurological: Epilepsy, Parkinson's disease

• Other: Glaucoma, Urinary incontinence, Urinary retention, Depression

You can use the NHS New Medicine Service if you're registered with the NHS in England and have been prescribed a new medication for one of the eligible long-term conditions listed above.

You don't need to have your prescriptions dispensed by NowPatient to use this service. NowPatient is also working to allow GPs in England to refer patients directly to the virtual service.

Important: This service is commissioned by NHS England and is only available to patients in England. It isn't available in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or outside the UK.

The NHS New Medicine Service is completely free. It's funded by the NHS and you won't be charged for any consultations.

The NMS follows a structured three-stage process designed to support you from the moment you start your new medication.

Stage 1: Engagement

There are two ways you can access the service.

• Self-check: you can check whether a new medication you've recently been prescribed is eligible. Go to the NHS New Medicine Service Card in the NHS Hub on your account homepage and select Check Eligibility.

• Automatic notification: if NowPatient dispenses a newly prescribed medication that qualifies, we'll send you an in-app and push notification inviting you to take part.

When to book: plan to book your first consultation 7 to 14 days from the point you start taking your new medication.

Stage 2: Intervention (first consultation)

This remote video consultation usually lasts around 10 minutes. Your clinician will assess how you're getting on with your new medicine, identify any problems or concerns, determine if you need further information or support, and offer advice on healthy living or public health topics where appropriate.

At the end of the consultation, the clinician will agree on next steps with you. There are three possible outcomes.

• No problems identified: you're adhering to the medication and a follow-up consultation is booked (typically 14 to 21 days later).

• Problems identified, no prescriber intervention needed: the clinician agrees remedial steps with you (such as reminder charts or adjustments to how you take the medicine) and a follow-up consultation is booked.

• Problems identified, prescriber intervention needed: the clinician refers you back to your prescriber for review.

Stage 3: Follow-up

Your clinician will reassess your adherence, identify any new or ongoing problems, and agree on next steps. There are three possible outcomes.

• Adhering to the medication: the service is complete.

• Problem identified, solution agreed: you and the clinician agree on a solution. The service is complete.

• Problem identified, referral needed: the clinician refers you to your doctor for review. The service is complete.

Whether you're engaging through the self-check or an automatic notification, the booking process is the same.

For self-check, select Check Eligibility from the NHS New Medicine Service Card and complete the eligibility screening. If eligible, click Book Consultation and follow the consultation booking steps. For automatic notifications, open the invitation from Notifications on your homepage and follow the consultation booking steps:

• Choose your date, time and clinician. Booking slots are available up to 7 days in advance

• Review your booking details, and confirm

• You'll receive in-app and push notifications to remind you of the appointment.

• Attend your video consultation. Your clinician will verify your identity, review your health profile, assess your condition, and conduct the service

Ensure your health profile is up to date. Your clinician may need details of your current medications and supplements, known allergies and adverse reactions, existing medical conditions, previous surgeries or hospitalisations, family medical history (where relevant), current symptoms or health concerns, blood pressure readings (see below), height and weight (to calculate your BMI), and certain blood test results.
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Additionally, If you are a UK user registered with the NHS in England, we encourage you to connect your NHS account. You can do this easily from your account homepage. This way our clinicians, subject to your consent, can view your health record to ensure they are advising your safely & appropriately under the terms of the service.

At the start, your clinician will introduce themselves and confirm your identity. You'll be reminded that you are completing this consultation for yourself and to the best of your knowledge, you must disclose any medical conditions, serious illnesses or operations, and you must disclose any prescription or non-prescription medications you're taking.
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You will also be asked to give consent so we can communicate with your GP and share information with NHS England, NHS Improvement, and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) if needed.

The clinician then reviews your new medication to ensure that you understand what it has been prescribed for, and that you know what to expect and also to check if you are getting on well with the new medication without any problems.

If your clinician recommends a follow-up, you'll receive an in-app and push notification immediately after your first consultation. Open the recommendation from Notifications on your homepage to schedule the follow-up at a convenient time.

You'll receive a notification summarising the outcome, including any referrals to your GP and advice given by the clinician. This is sent via in-app and push notifications. Go to Notifications on your account homepage to view it.

You may also receive a short survey about your experience. We encourage you to complete it, your feedback helps us improve the service for you and other patients.

NowPatient's clinicians are board-certified pharmacists qualified to prescribe selected medications for six common conditions, as outlined by the NHS.

Every clinician is registered with the appropriate regulatory body, for example pharmacists are registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

All clinicians undergo thorough background checks, including a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, and a comprehensive licence verification process.

When you book an appointment, you can view the clinician's full name, licence number and any specialist credentials.

The services our clinicians provide are strictly governed, risk-assessed and regularly reviewed in line with NHS guidelines. The service is delivered via remote video consultations (synchronous consultations) to help ensure clinical safety.

As an NHS patient, our clinicians can access your GP record, including medications, observations and investigations. This ensures they can assess you appropriately and provide safe, relevant advice.

The NHS New Medicine Service is classified as a Class I medical device under UK MDR 2002 regulations for its intended use. It also complies with NHS standards DTAC, DCB 0160 and DCB 0129.

NowPatient operates from a HIPAA, DTAC and Cyber Essentials Plus certified compliant platform. This ensures the highest levels of information security and allows us to safely handle Patient Health Information (PHI). Clinicians access our systems on a zero-trust basis, backed by single sign-on (SSO) technologies.