Medicine Policies

HEBA Online Pharmacy is a UK-registered online pharmacy and operates under the following regulatory frameworks:

• General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) — our dispensing pharmacy and all pharmacists are registered with and inspected by the GPhC, the statutory regulator for pharmacy in Great Britain. Our GPhC premises registration number and Superintendent Pharmacist details are displayed on our website footer.
• Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) — all medicines we supply are UK-licensed and sourced through the MHRA-regulated supply chain. We display the MHRA Distance Selling Logo on every page where prescription-only medicines are offered, as required under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.
• Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) — we are registered as a data controller under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
• Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) / CAP Code — all marketing and promotional content complies with the CAP Code and the ABPI Code where applicable.

We also work within the standards set by:

• The GPhC's Guidance for registered pharmacies providing pharmacy services at a distance, including on the internet (updated 2025)
• The GPhC's Standards for pharmacy professionals
• The Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Professional Standards for Hospital and Community Pharmacy Services
• Relevant NICE, SIGN, BNF, and MHRA guidance for each therapeutic area

HEBA supplies UK-licensed medicines across a defined set of therapeutic areas, including (but not limited to):

• Men's health — erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, hair loss
• Women's health — period delay, period pain, thrush, contraception (where appropriate)
• Weight management
• Travel health — antimalarials, jet lag, traveller's diarrhoea, travel sickness
  Minor ailments and general health

Only UK-licensed branded and generic medicines are supplied. We do not import unlicensed medicines, and we do not dispense against prescriptions from outside the UK.

Medicines we do not supply
HEBA will not prescribe or dispense:

• Schedule 2 or 3 Controlled Drugs
• Medicines associated with a high risk of misuse where remote prescribing cannot be made safe (for example, opioid analgesics for chronic pain, benzodiazepines, gabapentinoids, Z-drugs, and similar)
• Medicines requiring a physical examination, diagnostic test, or specialist monitoring that cannot be completed or verified remotely
• Medicines for patients under 18 years of age, unless the specific service is expressly designed and risk-assessed for under-18s
• Unlicensed or "specials" medicines, unless supplied against a valid specials prescription from a named prescriber within a defined clinical pathway
• Medicines for patients residing outside Great Britain
• We review this list regularly in line with GPhC guidance, MHRA alerts, and emerging clinical evidence.

Who prescribes

All prescriptions issued through HEBA are written by clinicians authorised to prescribe in the UK, including:

• GPhC-registered pharmacist independent prescribers
• GMC-registered doctors
• NMC-registered nurse independent prescribers (where applicable)

Every prescriber is appropriately qualified and competent to prescribe within the specific therapeutic area they work in, maintains annual GPhC/GMC/NMC registration, holds active professional indemnity insurance, and works to scope of practice agreements signed off by our Superintendent Pharmacist and Responsible Prescriber.

Prescribers are accountable to their professional regulator and to HEBA's clinical governance framework.

How we assess patients

For every request for a prescription-only medicine, the patient completes a structured online consultation designed and reviewed by our clinical team and based on NICE, SIGN, BNF, and specialty-specific guidance.

The consultation collects, as a minimum:

• Identity and age verification
• Relevant medical history, current medicines, and allergies
• Condition-specific clinical information
• GP details and consent to share information with the patient's GP where appropriate
• Any measurements required for safe prescribing (for example, weight, height, BMI, blood pressure)

A prescriber then reviews the consultation and is under no obligation to issue a prescription. A prescription is only issued where the prescriber is satisfied, on the balance of information available, that the medicine is clinically appropriate, safe, and in the patient's best interests.

Where the prescriber cannot safely prescribe, we explain why and signpost the patient to the most appropriate alternative service — usually their NHS GP, NHS 111/NHS 24, or a specialist service.

 High-risk medicines and additional safeguards

In line with updated GPhC guidance (2025), we apply enhanced safeguards for medicines identified as carrying greater risk when prescribed online. These include, but are not limited to:

• Medicines for weight management (including GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide and tirzepatide, and orlistat)
  Medicines liable to misuse or diversion
• Medicines for long-term conditions requiring ongoing monitoring (for example, conditions affecting the cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine, or mental health systems)
• Medicines requiring a physical examination or diagnostic test before a safe prescribing decision can be made
• Antimicrobials, where inappropriate supply could contribute to antimicrobial resistance

For these medicines, our prescribers do not rely on the online questionnaire alone. They will independently verify the information the patient has provided, using one or more of the following:

• Two-way communication with the patient (secure message, phone, or video consultation)
• Requesting and reviewing recent clinical information from the patient's GP or usual prescriber
• Requesting objective evidence where relevant (for example, a recent blood pressure reading, a photograph of identification, a weigh-in on a smart device, or recent blood results)
• For weight-management medicines, independently verifying the patient's height, weight, and BMI before every supply

Where a patient does not consent to us contacting their GP, the prescriber will decide — on a case-by-case basis — whether it remains safe to prescribe, and may decline to do so.

Ongoing prescribing and repeat supply

For conditions suitable for ongoing care (for example, hair loss, erectile dysfunction, weight management), repeat supply is subject to:

• A defined review interval appropriate to the medicine and condition
• A structured clinical review before each repeat, with updated measurements where required
• Annual full reassessment as a minimum
• Immediate review if the patient reports side effects, a change in health status, or starts new medication

Patients can stop repeat treatment at any time by messaging our pharmacy team.

Two-way communication

For every prescription issued, the patient has a clear and documented way to communicate with their prescriber and with a HEBA clinician. This includes secure messaging through the patient's HEBA account, email, and phone. Prescribers are expected to respond within defined service-level timeframes, and any urgent clinical concern is escalated to the on-call pharmacist or responsible prescriber.

Clinical and accuracy checks
Every prescription is subject to:

• A clinical check by a registered pharmacist, reviewing appropriateness, interactions, contraindications, dose, and the patient's full medication profile held by HEBA
• An accuracy check by a pharmacist or accredited checking technician before the medicine leaves the pharmacy

Any concern identified at either stage is referred back to the prescriber before supply.

Sourcing and quality assurance

All medicines are sourced from:

• MHRA-licensed UK wholesalers and manufacturers
• Suppliers holding a valid Wholesale Dealer's Authorisation (WDA(H))

We verify every inbound supplier against the MHRA register. Each medicine is subject to Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) safety feature verification where applicable, temperature-controlled storage where required (including cold chain for GLP-1s and similar), and batch, expiry, and quarantine controls that follow our Standard Operating Procedures.

Counterfeit and diversion controls

We do not, under any circumstances, dispense medicines obtained outside the regulated UK supply chain. We operate active monitoring for unusual ordering patterns that could indicate misuse, diversion, or stockpiling, and we reserve the right to refuse supply where these concerns arise.

Patient Information

Every medicine we dispense is supplied with its MHRA-approved Patient Information Leaflet (PIL). Additional written and digital counselling materials are provided for medicines that require technique guidance (for example, injectable GLP-1s, topical alprostadil, inhalers).

All medicines are delivered in discreet, plain packaging with no indication of contents on the outside. Cold-chain medicines are sent in validated insulated packaging with temperature monitoring where required. Age-restricted or signature-required deliveries follow our SOP for proof of delivery.

In line with The Medicines Act 1968 and GPhC guidance, dispensed medicines cannot be returned for reuse or resale once they have left the pharmacy, except in narrow circumstances (for example, a dispensing error). Patients should return unwanted medicines to a local pharmacy for safe disposal.

Refunds for non-dispensed prescriptions, undelivered items, or service issues are handled under our Refund and Returns Policy.

HEBA is committed to safeguarding children, young people, and adults at risk. Our prescribers and pharmacy team are trained to:

• Recognise potential safeguarding concerns, including coercion, grooming, domestic abuse, and mental health crisis
• Identify signs of medicines misuse, dependency, or diversion
• Escalate concerns to our designated Safeguarding Lead
  Share information with GPs, the police, or local authorities where there is a lawful basis and a legitimate safeguarding concern

All clinical and customer-facing staff complete annual safeguarding training to level appropriate to their role (minimum Level 2 for customer-facing staff, Level 3 for prescribers).

HEBA operates a documented clinical governance framework overseen by our Superintendent Pharmacist. It includes defined leadership and accountability (Superintendent Pharmacist, Responsible Prescriber, Clinical Governance Lead), a live risk register and SOP library, incident and near-miss reporting with root-cause analysis, prescriber audit and peer review, patient-feedback and complaints monitoring, and scheduled policy review.

Incident reporting
All dispensing errors, near-misses, and patient safety incidents are logged and reviewed. Where appropriate, incidents are reported externally to the GPhC, MHRA (Yellow Card for ADRs), NHS England National Reporting and Learning System where eligible, and the patient's GP and the patient themselves when they are affected.

Pharmacovigilance
We encourage patients and staff to report suspected adverse drug reactions via the MHRA Yellow Card scheme at yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk. Our pharmacists support patients with Yellow Card submissions and submit reports on their behalf where appropriate.

All marketing of prescription-only medicines complies with:

• Human Medicines Regulations 2012 — POMs are not advertised to the public
• CAP Code and ASA rulings
• ABPI Code of Practice principles where applicable

We do not offer inducements, loyalty discounts, or promotional pricing on prescription-only medicines in a way that could encourage inappropriate use.

Patients using HEBA have the right to:

• A clinically appropriate assessment by a UK-registered prescriber
• Clear information about their medicine, including how to take it and its side effects
• Access to their clinical record held by HEBA, on request
• Decline treatment at any point
• Raise a complaint and have it investigated under our published Complaints Procedure
• Escalate unresolved concerns to the GPhC, CQC (England), HIS (Scotland), or the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman as relevant

This policy is reviewed at least annually, and sooner if:

• GPhC, MHRA, CQC, HIS, or ASA guidance changes
• Clinical guidance in a relevant therapeutic area is updated
• An internal audit, inspection, or incident identifies a need for change

The most current version is always published on the HEBA website. Archived versions are retained internally.