Get Treated for Sore Throat

If you are aged 18 years and over, and registered with the NHS in England, you may qualify for a FREE remote video consultation and treatment for Sore Throat, without having to see your GP.

NHS Pharmacy First is available to ALL NHS patients in England and will allow you to get treated for Sore Throat with prescription-only medications, without having to visit your GP or obtain a prescription.

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

The FREE service is subject to an eligibility screen.

Yes. We also treat the following other conditions:

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

Yes. The NHS Pharmacy First 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 & DCB 0129.

This is a FREE service for NHS-registered users in England. If you are prescribed medication for Sore Throat 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. 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.

Yes, as an NHS patient, our clinicians will be able to access your GP record including medications, observations, and investigations. This ensures our clinicians are able to assess you appropriately.

Yes. NowPatient operates from a HIPAA, DTAC, and Cyber Essentials Plus certified compliant platform that assures the highest levels of information security and allows us to safely handle PHI (Patient Health Information). Clinicians who access our systems do so on a zero-trust basis backed with SSO technologies.

Our clinicians are board-certified pharmacists who are qualified to prescribe selected medications for Sore Throat, as outlined by the NHS.

Each 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, as well as a comprehensive license verification process. When you book an appointment, you’ll be able to view the clinician’s full name, license number, and any specialist credentials.

The medications and conditions our clinicians can prescribe and treat is strictly governed, risk-assessed, and regularly reviewed in line with NHS guidelines. Our service is delivered via remote video consultations (synchronous consultations), which help ensure clinical safety and appropriate prescribing. Please note that medication is not guaranteed and is provided only at the discretion of the assessing clinician.

During the virtual consultation for Sore Throat, we will obtain a consent from you for providing this service. This is required so we can communicate with your GP and provide information to NHS England, NHS Improvement, and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) if required.

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.

Navigate to the NHS Pharmacy First Service Card which can be found in the ‘NHS Hub’ section of the account homepage.

Choose ‘Select Condition’ from the Options Menu on the NHS Pharmacy First Service Card and follow the steps below:

Step 1 – Choose Sore Throat you would like to treat and click ‘Check Eligibility’

Step 2 – Using the AI Chat Bot, answer the questions presented to determine your eligibility for the service. If you qualify, you’ll be prompted to book a consultation. Click on the ‘Book Consultation’ button to proceed. If you do not qualify, we will signpost you to the right NHS care provider or service.

Step 3 – Now follow the instructions below to complete your booking

During the consultation, the clinician will ask you a series of questions that will allow the clinician to assess your Sore Throat and potential treatment options. At the end of the consultation, the clinician will decide if a treatment is a safe and suitable 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.

Also, with your consent, the clinician may wish to inform your doctor of the treatment that was prescribed. We recommend that you agree to this since your doctor 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.

You may be sent a short survey asking you about your experience attending your remote video consultation. We encourage you to complete this as it provides us with valuable feedback to improve your experience in the future. It’s helpful for us if you point out things that didn’t go well, and suggest ways of improving the experience for you and others.

At the end of the consultation, you will receive a notification which will summarise the outcome. It will also advise you if any referrals were made to your doctor, along with any other advice that was given to you by the clinician. You will be notified of the summary via an In-App and Push notification.  Once you receive the notification, navigate to ‘Notifications’ on the account homepage and you will be able to view it.

If your attending clinician prescribes a treatment for Sore Throat during the virtual consultation, you will be informed at that time. To complete your checkout, please follow the steps outlined below.

NowPatient uses a structured notification system for all orders, ensuring you’re consistently informed about your order status every step of the way.

You can expect status update notifications through the following channels:

• Email
• In-App

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 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 NowPatient. 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.

We aim to ship all orders placed Monday – Friday before 3pm on the same day. Orders placed outside these times will be shipped the next working day. All deliveries are shipped by Royal Mail, which delivers Monday through Saturday in the UK.

Our delivery options have the following delivery times (England Only):

• 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)