18/09/2025
Mounjaro and weight loss medication – NON NHS 💉
The British Medical Association (BMA) advises that NHS GPs are generally not responsible for supervising patients using Mounjaro (tirzepatide) prescribed privately, as it is outside their area of expertise and responsibility to a private provider. The prescribing clinician in a private setting is responsible for ensuring safe prescribing by taking adequate patient histories and conducting necessary investigations. The BMA recommends that private providers use patient-held records or the NHS App for information sharing, and GPs should encourage this approach. For patients taking private Mounjaro, the BMA suggests adding this as an "external prescription" to their record to trigger safety alerts.
Key BMA Recommendations for Private Prescribing:
GP Role:
GPs are not expected to provide monitoring or advisory services for privately prescribed Mounjaro, as it is outside their contractual and professional scope.
Private Prescriber Responsibility:
Under the General Medical Council (GMC) regulations, the private clinician is responsible for ensuring safe prescribing, which includes taking a detailed history and appropriate clinical examinations.
Information Sharing:
Practices should encourage patients using private Mounjaro to share their medical records via the NHS App or other systems to aid care and provide information for drug interaction alerts.
External Prescriptions:
It is recommended to record privately prescribed medications as an "external prescription" on the patient's record to help trigger relevant safety alerts and medication interaction checks within the GP system.
Contraception and HRT:
The BMA highlights the importance of informing patients, particularly women of childbearing age, to use an additional barrier method of contraception (like a condom) or switch to non-oral options while taking GLP-1 medicines due to potential reduced effectiveness of oral contraceptives. Similarly, those on HRT should consider skin-absorbed patches or gels.
