When Is Wegovy Prescribed, and Do You Qualify?

What does a prescriber actually look for before writing a Wegovy prescription?

The starting point is BMI. The UK licence for Wegovy covers adults with a BMI of 30 or higher, or a BMI of at least 27 where there is at least one weight-related condition. Conditions that count include type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia (high cholesterol or triglycerides), obstructive sleep apnoea, and cardiovascular disease, among others.

BMI thresholds can sit 2.5 kg/m² lower for adults from South Asian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean backgrounds, reflecting differences in how weight-related risk presents across ethnicities.

Meeting the BMI cutoff opens the door; it does not walk you through it. A prescriber reviews your full medical picture (current medicines, medical history, any conditions that might make semaglutide unsuitable) before deciding. Certain histories, including a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2, require particular care. Wegovy is not licensed for use in pregnancy, while breastfeeding, or in under-18s, and it is not recommended for anyone trying to conceive. Our clinical team applies exactly this framework at every consultation.

The NHS patient information for semaglutide covers the full list of conditions that need to be discussed with a prescriber before starting.

How does Wegovy get prescribed on the NHS, and why do so many people turn to a private route?

NICE recommends Wegovy for adults with a BMI of 35 or above and at least one weight-related comorbidity (or a BMI of 30–34.9 where specialist-referral criteria are met), but only within a specialist weight management service offering multidisciplinary support, and for a maximum of two years. If there is less than 5% weight loss after six months at the maintenance dose, continuing treatment is reviewed. The NICE appraisal of semaglutide (TA875) sets out these conditions precisely.

In practice, NHS access runs through a referral to a tier-3 or tier-4 specialist service. Those services exist, but so do their waiting lists. Many people find the referral pathway takes months, and not everyone meets the NHS BMI threshold even if they qualify under the licensed criteria.

A private prescription from a regulated UK pharmacy is the legal alternative. You still need a clinical assessment and a prescriber's sign-off; the difference is speed and access, not process. If you want a sense of what private treatment involves financially, the Wegovy cost page explains how private pricing works without the complexity of subscription traps or hidden fees.

What does the prescription process look like in practice?

Whether you go through the NHS or a private pharmacy, the steps are the same in principle: you answer clinical questions, a prescriber reviews your answers, and a decision is made. At nume, that review is done the same day by a GPhC-registered Independent Prescriber, a real clinician reading your consultation, not software running a scoring algorithm.

For identity and safety, we verify photo ID and confirm current weight on video before any prescription is issued. GP notification is handled in line with GPhC guidance. If the prescription is approved and placed before noon on a working day, it is dispatched the same afternoon. The pen arrives the next working day via DPD (tracked to your phone, in a plain unbranded box) no indication of what is inside.

If you are transferring from another provider or asking about a dose increase, our prescribers ask for evidence of your current treatment first. That is a safety step, not a bureaucratic one. You can read more about how to get a Wegovy prescription and the specific steps involved. For a broader look at both semaglutide options, the Wegovy treatment page covers the full picture.

Questions about eligibility for other treatments alongside Wegovy, or about switching, are best explored on the weight-loss treatment overview.

Can you get Wegovy prescribed without seeing a doctor in person?

You do not need a face-to-face GP appointment to receive a private Wegovy prescription. Remote prescribing by a qualified Independent Prescriber, following a thorough online consultation, is legal and regulated in the UK. The prescriber must still make a genuine clinical decision, remote does not mean automatic.

What remote prescribing cannot do is bypass the clinical assessment altogether. Any seller offering semaglutide without a prescription is operating outside the law, and the MHRA has been clear about the risks: counterfeit pens have been found to contain entirely different substances. If you are unsure whether you qualify, our guide on how to get prescribed semaglutide walks through the eligibility criteria and what a compliant assessment involves. The MHRA's Yellow Card scheme allows anyone to report a suspected illegal seller or an unexpected side effect.

The guide to obtaining Wegovy through a legitimate route explains where the legal boundaries sit and how to verify any online pharmacy on the GPhC register before you hand over payment. It is worth spending two minutes on that check. If your question is specifically about the Wegovy route, our page on how to get prescribed Wegovy covers what to expect from the consultation and what a prescriber needs to see.