Our practice does not enter into, continue, or take over Shared Care Agreements (SCAs) initiated by private providers, regardless of the origin, specialty, clinic, or prescribing clinician involved.
Shared Care Agreements are voluntary arrangements between a specialist and a GP practice, and GP practices are under no contractual obligation to participate in shared care with private providers. Participation requires that the practice is satisfied that:
- The prescribing arrangement is safe and clinically appropriate;
- The specialist service meets NHS standards for communication, monitoring, and follow-up;
- Adequate specialist support is available;
- The practice has the capacity and resources to safely undertake ongoing prescribing and monitoring responsibilities.
Due to increasing workload pressures, governance considerations, patient safety responsibilities, and the need to prioritise NHS commissioned care, our practice policy is that we will not assume prescribing responsibility or monitoring obligations for medications initiated privately under shared care arrangements.
This applies to all privately initiated treatments, including but not limited to:
- ADHD medications;
- Gender identity treatments;
- Weight management medications;
- Hormone therapies;
- Dermatology treatments;
- Psychiatric medications;
- Specialist pain management medications;
- Any other specialist medication requiring shared monitoring arrangements.
Patients who choose to access private assessment or treatment will remain responsible for obtaining prescriptions, monitoring, follow-up, and ongoing care directly from their private specialist provider unless and until care is formally transferred through an NHS pathway and accepted under local NHS shared care arrangements.
Where appropriate, patients may be referred into NHS services for reassessment; however, acceptance onto an NHS pathway does not guarantee continuation of the same medication or acceptance of shared care prescribing.
This policy has been implemented to ensure safe prescribing practice, maintain equitable use of NHS resources, and protect the practice’s ability to deliver core NHS services safely and effectively.
