NHS Pharmacy First

We assess and treat the following conditions:

• Sinusitis
• Sore throats
• Infected insect bites
• Impetigo
• Shingles
• Uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women

If treatments are prescribed, they are dispensed and delivered to your home or workplace from NowPatient’s online pharmacy.

Yes. Our formulary of medications prescribed and conditions treated are controlled, governed, and continuously risk-assessed by the NHS. Our service is conducted through remote video consultations, also known as synchronous consultations. This builds patient safety and prescribing appropriateness into our service, ensuring our clinicians can be satisfied with who and what they are treating. There is no guarantee of supply of medications, and any medications supplied are at the sole discretion of our assessing clinician.

Our clinicians are board-certified pharmacists who can also prescribe selected medications for six common treatable conditions, which is set out by the NHS. Our clinicians are registered with their respective regulatory bodies. For example, a pharmacist is registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). Each clinician undergoes an extensive background check including a disclosure and barring service check (DBS). In addition, they undergo a rigorous license verification process. When you book an appointment with one of our clinicians you will see their full name, license number, and any specialized credentials they have.

No. At the moment, it is only available in England.

This service is commissioned by NHS England and is only available to patients in England. You will not be able to use the feature if you live in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.

This is a FREE service for NHS-registered users. If you are prescribed medication at the end of your assessment and you are not exempt from NHS prescription charges, then you will need to pay a single NHS prescription charge, which is currently £9.90. If you are exempt from prescription charges, for example, if you are on Income Support or aged over 60, then you will not be charged.

• Sore throats
• Sinusitis
• Infected insect bites
• Impetigo
• Shingles
• Uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women

Yes, as an NHS patient, our pharmacists will be able to access to your GP record including medications, observations, and investigations. This ensures we are able to assess and treat your condition safely and appropriately.

During the consultation, the clinician will ask you a series of questions that will allow the clinician to diagnose your health condition and consider possible treatment options. At the end of the consultation, the clinician will decide if a treatment plan is a safe and appropriate option for you.

If it is, the clinician will discuss the various treatment options that may be available, so that you can jointly agree on the option that is most suited to you. Once you have jointly agreed on a treatment plan, the clinician will issue a prescription order which will be available in your ‘shopping cart’ at the end of the consultation.

Also, with your consent, the clinician may wish to inform your GP of the treatment that was prescribed. We recommend that you agree to this since your GP is responsible for your overall care and they should have a record of this consultation and medication prescribed. In addition, our clinician may take the opportunity to advise you on your overall health including advice on healthy living or stop smoking.

At the end of the consultation, you will receive a notification which will summarise the outcome. It will also advise if any signposting to other NHS services were made or if referrals were made to your GP, along with any other advice that was given to you by the clinician.

If a GP referral letter was issued, you will be able to view a copy of this in the ‘My Documents’ section of your dashboard.

If you were prescribed a treatment plan, it will now be available in your shopping cart. When you go to your shopping cart, you will be able to checkout and make a payment or claim an exemption. Remember, you only make a payment If you are NOT exempt from NHS prescription charges. Once the checkout is complete, your prescription order will be sent to our NHS online pharmacy for processing.

We operate a safe and effective service. This means that our clinicians always exercise their clinical judgment when prescribing. Unfortunately, we do not operate a service where you can demand a certain medication. If you are not prescribed anything, then you will not be charged.

Yes. When you place an order with NowPatient, we will keep you fully updated with the status of your order. Every time the status of your order changes, you will be notified immediately. These notifications will appear in your ‘My Notifications’ section on your dashboard. You can click the notification and it will take you to your active orders screen which will give you a timeline overview of the progress of your order. This can also be accessed using the ‘My Orders’ quick action widget which is on your dashboard. Here, you can access active and past orders.

All orders are shipped in discreet and unmarked packaging. This means it is suitable for delivery wherever you require (home, work, or a neighbour). For thermo-sensitive orders (e.g. Insulin or weight loss injections) we use cold chain-validated packaging. Your parcel will normally receive an estimated delivery window from the courier on the day of delivery.

For your protection and safety, your first order can only be delivered to the address that is registered with the NHS. Future orders can be delivered to any other address, for example, your workplace.

Yes. We use a specialist courier service for all thermo-sensitive deliveries. This is to ensure that cold chain integrity is always maintained and thus the product quality, safety and efficacy.

Learn more about how we handle the delivery of temperature sensitive products.

We currently deliver to all postcodes in England. Some postcodes in rural areas may have a slightly longer delivery time.

• Royal Mail Standard Tracked & Signed for Delivery for NHS prescriptions – 2/3 day delivery (normally 48 hours)
• DHL Express Tracked Delivery – 1/2 day delivery (normally 24 hours)
• Royal Mail Special Delivery – Next working day (Royal Mail Guaranteed before 1pm)