How to Get Weight Loss Injections from a Doctor in the UK

What the NHS route actually looks like right now

Your GP can, in theory, prescribe a weight loss injection, but access depends heavily on where you live and whether you meet current NHS criteria. Under the NHS rollout for tirzepatide, eligibility is currently restricted to adults with a BMI of 40 or above alongside four or more qualifying conditions, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obstructive sleep apnoea, cardiovascular disease or dyslipidaemia. A second cohort covering BMI 35–39.9 with four or more of those conditions opened in June 2026. Not every GP practice is participating, and wraparound lifestyle support is a requirement, not an optional extra. NICE's appraisal of tirzepatide (TA1026) sets out the full commissioning picture.

For Wegovy, the NHS route runs through specialist weight management services under separate NICE guidance (TA875), with its own referral pathway and waiting lists that in many areas run to months. If you meet the criteria, it is worth pursuing, these are effective, clinically important medicines. If you don't meet the current thresholds, or you'd rather not wait, a regulated private service is the lawful alternative.

Worth checking: a great many people who come to us have already spoken to their GP and been told they don't currently qualify under NHS criteria, or that their practice isn't yet set up to prescribe. That's a genuinely frustrating position to be in, and our guide on how to get weight loss injections from your GP walks through what that conversation can look like and what to ask.

The private route, step by step, and what makes it legitimate

The private route delivers the same clinical rigour as a GP appointment, compressed into a same-day process. At nume, it works like this: you complete a free online health consultation covering your medical history, current medicines, weight, BMI and relevant conditions. A named GPhC-registered Independent Prescriber reads it (not a rules engine, not an automated triage) and decides whether treatment is clinically appropriate for you. If it is, a prescription is issued and your treatment is dispatched the same day, arriving via DPD the next working day.

Photo-ID verification and live weight verification by video are part of that process. If you are transferring from another provider or requesting a dose increase, we ask for evidence. That is not bureaucracy for its own sake; it is how a responsible pharmacy protects patients. Our clinical team takes that seriously.

Before you use any online pharmacy, verify it on the GPhC pharmacy register. Every legitimate UK online pharmacy has a premises registration number you can look up there. nume's registration number is 9012878. If a pharmacy isn't listed, do not proceed.

The counterfeit risk is real, here is how to spot it

The MHRA has been unambiguous on this: fake weight loss pens are circulating in the UK, sold through social media and unofficial websites. Some have contained insulin instead of the stated medicine. In October 2025, enforcement agencies raided the first illicit UK site manufacturing counterfeit tirzepatide pens. Across 2025, roughly 20 million doses of illegally traded weight loss medicines, with a street value of around £45 million, were seized.

Red flags are consistent: offers made without a clinical assessment, prices far below the private market, sellers operating outside regulated pharmacy channels, and so-called discount codes attached to POM listings. You can report suspect sellers directly through the MHRA's Yellow Card scheme. The NHS England guidance on weight management injections also covers what to look for in a legitimate service.

The question to ask yourself isn't which service is cheapest. It's which service can demonstrate a real prescriber, a verified supply chain and a pharmacy you can look up by name. That's the test that keeps you safe.

Who is likely to be eligible for a private prescription

The licensed criteria for Mounjaro and Wegovy in the UK are set by the medicines' regulators, not by any individual pharmacy. In broad terms, both are licensed for adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or a BMI of 27 or above alongside at least one weight-related health condition, such as prediabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or obstructive sleep apnoea. Lower BMI thresholds can apply for some ethnic backgrounds under UK guidance. BMI alone does not determine the outcome; the prescriber weighs up the full picture, including your medical history and any medicines you currently take.

If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or actively trying to conceive, these medicines are not recommended. They are not licensed for under-18s. For a broader overview of how weight loss injections work and what the evidence says about results, that page covers the clinical background in full. If you are ready to move forward, you can purchase weight loss injections through nume after completing a free consultation, with same-day dispatch if your prescription is approved. You can also browse our weight loss treatment overview to compare the options available through nume before you start your consultation.

If you have questions before you begin, our FAQs cover the most common ones, including a full breakdown of how to get weight loss injections through a regulated private pharmacy, and our team is reachable through the contact page seven days a week.