Dedicated weight-loss services do one thing well. A GP consultation asks a different question: why is this happening?
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We say plainly where the other option is stronger
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Clinically reviewed by a GMC-registered GP
Care led personally by Dr Khan
Attentive, unhurried care that listens properly
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Several of the largest names in UK online healthcare have become weight-loss businesses. Two of the best-known general online GP brands now lead almost entirely with GLP-1 treatment, sold as a monthly subscription with coaching and delivery included.
These are serious, well-run services and for many people they are the right choice. But they are built to deliver one treatment well, and that shapes what they look for — and what they do not.
£40 consultation; medication paid at your pharmacy
From around £89/month or £15/week (verified examples)
The question a GP asks first is the one a BMI threshold does not: why has this happened, and has anything reversible been missed?
An underactive thyroid causes weight gain and fatigue and is a blood test away. So does Cushing's, rarely. PCOS drives insulin resistance in a way that changes the whole approach. And a long list of ordinary prescriptions — some antidepressants, some antipsychotics, steroids, insulin, certain beta blockers — cause weight gain as a direct effect. Someone gaining weight since starting a new medication has a different problem from someone who has gained it over twenty years.
None of that is excluded by a questionnaire that asks for your height and weight.
We also have no financial interest in the answer being medication. If the honest answer is that a GLP-1 is not appropriate, or that a specialist provider would serve you better, that costs us nothing to say.
For sustained weight loss on a GLP-1, a dedicated provider is genuinely better set up than we are, and it is not close.
They provide structured coaching, regular weigh-ins, behaviour-change programmes and peer support communities. The evidence is clear that ongoing support materially improves outcomes on these drugs, and a periodic GP appointment is not a substitute for weekly contact with a coach.
They also deliver the medication, often free and next-day, and handle titration and supply continuity as a routine. We prescribe; you collect from your own pharmacy and manage supply yourself.
On cost, a subscription including medication may work out cheaper than paying us plus pharmacy prices, depending on the drug and dose. That is worth checking rather than assuming.
And they have volume. A provider treating hundreds of thousands of patients on one pathway has pattern recognition on side effects and plateaus that a generalist practice cannot match.
These are not mutually exclusive. Having a GP exclude the treatable causes first, then using a specialist provider for the programme itself, is a perfectly sensible order to do it in.
We would rather say this plainly than pretend a general practice can replace a specialist programme.
Get assessed first, then choose a programme. Those are two different purchases and they do not have to come from the same place.
We do not sell the medication and take no margin on it, which is precisely why we can say a specialist provider may serve you better.
Because a weight loss service is designed to answer "which treatment", not "why".
Thyroid disease, PCOS, insulin resistance and a long list of prescriptions all cause weight gain, and a BMI figure excludes none of them.
No — and for the ongoing programme many are better than we would be. Structured weekly support materially improves results on these drugs.
The gap is at the assessment stage, not the support stage.
Where licensed criteria are met and it is clinically appropriate, yes — assessed carefully rather than supplied on request.
We will not prescribe below licensed BMI criteria, for cosmetic weight loss at a healthy weight, without bloods, or where an eating disorder is present or suspected.
No. You take a private prescription to your own pharmacy and pay them directly.
We earn nothing from the drug, which is why we have no reason to steer you towards it.
£40 for the consultation, then the medication at your pharmacy — typically a few hundred pounds a month at maintenance doses.
Monthly subscription providers bundle the two, so compare the total rather than the headline.
For most people, yes, substantially. That is consistent across the trial data.
Treat it as ongoing treatment rather than a course, and budget accordingly.
Yes, enough to act on it. A meaningful share of rapid weight loss is lean tissue.
Resistance training two or three times a week and adequate protein substantially reduce it, and this is under-emphasised almost everywhere.
It is the wrong tool for the assessment stage. A form cannot ask the follow-up question that reveals a thyroid problem or a history of disordered eating.
We will tell you, explain why, and cover what else is worth doing.
The fee is for the assessment, and being told the medication is not right for you is a legitimate outcome of one.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 29, 2026
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Same-day access is usually available, from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. You choose a time that suits you rather than waiting on hold at 8am.
Yes. Care is led personally by Dr Mohammad Khan, so you are not passed between clinicians. Continuity is the point of a small practice: someone who knows your history and is listening attentively rather than working through a checklist.
Yes, with your consent. We can access your Summary Care Record during the consultation, so your current medications, allergies and significant history are in the room. That means fewer questions you have already answered elsewhere, and safer prescribing.
No. We are not here to replace GPs, only to support them. Your NHS practice remains responsible for your ongoing care, and with your consent we write to them after the consultation. We are useful when you need to be seen sooner, or want more time than a standard appointment allows.
Twenty unhurried minutes and a comprehensive assessment. A written treatment plan is included, along with any prescription, sick note or referral letter arising from the consultation, at no extra charge.
£40 for 20 minutes, self-pay. Membership is optional and never required. Priced for fairness, because we are not here to charge extortionate amounts for access to a doctor.
It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you. Where a condition is not marked treatable online, it is because examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint — or because a procedure or device is needed.
Yes, where there is a genuine bacterial infection — cellulitis, impetigo, bacterial urine infections, confirmed strep throat. We will also frequently tell you that you do not need one. Most sore throats, coughs, colds and earaches are viral, and an antibiotic gives you the side effects with none of the benefit.
If your problem turns out to be genuinely outside what we can do remotely, the doctor will tell you straight away, point you to the right service, and refund your fee in full. We would rather do that than fill twenty minutes to justify the charge.
Call 999 or go to A&E — do not book an online appointment and do not wait for a reply to an email. For urgent problems that are not emergencies, NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, online or by phone, and can direct you to the right service.
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