What happens after your consultation — how the prescription reaches you, where to collect, and what you pay.
Unhurried care from a GMC-registered GP
6am to 10pm, seven days a week
Prescriptions, sick notes and referral letters included
Your NHS records in the room, with your consent
Care led personally by Dr Khan
Attentive, unhurried care that listens properly
Five-star Google reviews from the people we have looked after
Registered with the Care Quality Commission
Private prescribing works differently from the NHS, and the difference catches people out. This page explains the process end to end.
In short: the GP issues the prescription digitally during or just after your consultation, you receive it, and you take it to any pharmacy in the UK. You pay the pharmacy for the medication — there is no NHS prescription charge, and no fixed price.
Any registered pharmacy in the UK. Your usual one, a supermarket, or an online pharmacy — whichever suits.
Six months from the date of issue for most medicines. Controlled drugs have a shorter window of 28 days.
We do not dispense and we do not deliver. Cheshire Clinics is not a pharmacy.
We also have no financial relationship with any pharmacy. Nobody here earns anything from what is dispensed, which is deliberate — it removes any incentive to prescribe something you do not need.
A private prescription issued digitally, usually within about ten minutes of the consultation ending. It carries the GP's name and GMC number, your details, the medicine, dose and quantity, and the date.
It is a legal prescription. Any registered UK pharmacy will accept it — your usual one, a supermarket, or an online pharmacy.
This is the single most useful thing on this page. There is no fixed private prescription charge. You pay the actual cost of the medicine plus the pharmacy's own dispensing fee, and that total varies considerably between pharmacies for exactly the same box.
Six months from the date of issue for most medicines. Twenty-eight days for the small number of controlled drugs that can be prescribed remotely at all.
We do not dispense and we do not deliver. Cheshire Clinics is not a pharmacy, and you collect from a pharmacy of your own choosing.
We have no financial relationship with any pharmacy. Nobody here earns anything from what is dispensed, which is deliberate — it removes any incentive to prescribe something you do not need.
You are paying for an assessment, not for a medicine. Sometimes the right answer is a different treatment, and sometimes it is none. That is the point of the consultation rather than a failure of it.
Can I use it at any pharmacy? Yes, anywhere in the UK.
Will my NHS GP know? Only with your consent — see sharing your care. We would usually encourage it, particularly after a new prescription.
Can I get a repeat? Yes, following a review.
Is it more expensive than the NHS? Sometimes, sometimes not. For cheap generics it is often less.
Can you prescribe anything I ask for? No. A prescription follows a clinical assessment, and the answer is sometimes no.
Anywhere in the UK. Ask the price first. If it seems high, ring another pharmacy before you pay — the prescription remains valid and you have not committed to anything.
We would strongly encourage this after any new prescription, and it needs your consent — see sharing your care.
The reason is safety rather than formality: your NHS record is where interaction checks and monitoring happen, and a medicine that record does not know about is a medicine nobody is cross-checking. This matters most for anticoagulants, epilepsy medicines, lithium, methotrexate, and anything affecting blood pressure or blood sugar.
A private prescription is for the quantity written and no more. There is no repeat slip. Further supply follows a review, whose length depends on the medicine — short for something needing monitoring, longer for something stable.
Do not run out and then look for an appointment. Book while you still have a fortnight left, particularly for anything that should not be stopped abruptly.
Shortages happen and are usually national rather than local. Ring us rather than going without — an equivalent can often be prescribed the same day, and stopping abruptly is frequently the worse option.
Suspected side effects can also be reported directly through the MHRA Yellow Card scheme, which is how UK medicines safety monitoring actually works.
We do not dispense or deliver medication ourselves. Cheshire Clinics is not a pharmacy, and we have no financial relationship with any pharmacy — which means there is no incentive for us to prescribe anything you don't need.
Sometimes, and sometimes it is cheaper — it depends entirely on the medicine.
There is no flat private prescription charge. You pay what the medicine actually costs plus the pharmacy's dispensing fee. For inexpensive generics that total often comes to less than the NHS charge. For newer or branded medicines it can be considerably more.
No. Free NHS prescriptions — whether through age, pregnancy, a medical exemption certificate, or benefits — do not carry across to private prescriptions. Prepayment certificates do not either.
If you are exempt on the NHS, that is worth weighing before booking privately for medication alone. We would rather say so than have you discover it at the pharmacy counter.
Yes — any registered pharmacy in the UK, including supermarkets and online pharmacies. Prices differ, sometimes markedly, so ask before you hand it over.
No. We are not a pharmacy and we do not dispense or deliver anything. You collect from a pharmacy of your choosing, or use an online pharmacy that delivers.
No. We have no financial relationship with any pharmacy and earn nothing from what is dispensed.
That is deliberate. It is worth asking any private service the same question, because where the answer is yes, the incentive to prescribe is built into the business model.
Six months from issue for most medicines; 28 days for controlled drugs.
Only if you agree to us telling them — see sharing your care. We would encourage it after any new prescription, because interaction checking and monitoring happen against your NHS record.
The exception people ask about is sexual health and mental health. You can decline, the consultation goes ahead either way, and nothing is shared without your consent.
No, and that is the point of the assessment. The answer is sometimes a different treatment and sometimes no medicine at all.
We never prescribe opioids or stimulants remotely, and we do not start benzodiazepines or sleeping tablets at a remote consultation or prescribe them for ongoing use. The one exception is a rare emergency bridging supply where you are already established on one and have run out. If that is what you are seeking, please do not book, because the fee covers the assessment and the answer will be no.
No — there is no repeat slip on a private prescription. Further supply follows a review, which is quick for a stable medicine and more involved for one needing monitoring.
Ring us. Shortages are usually national, and an equivalent can often be prescribed the same day. Do not simply stop — for several classes of medicine, stopping abruptly is the more dangerous option.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 23, 2026
On this page
Ongoing
Time to be seen
Appointment length
Your NHS record in the room
Written treatment plan
Told when a test isn’t needed
Cost
Same day, usually
20 minutes
Yes, with your consent
Included
Yes, and told why
£40 for 20 minutes
Varies by practice
Typically 10 minutes
Yes, your full record
Not routinely
Usually
Free
Same day
Often 10 to 15 minutes
Usually not
Sometimes charged
Varies by provider
Often a subscription
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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