Tool · United Kingdom

Prepare the consultation — the document every clinic asks for

In the UK a cannabis-based product is initiated by a doctor on the GMC Specialist Register, almost always privately. Every clinic asks the same five things before it prescribes: diagnosis, what has been tried and with what result, what speaks against it, a measurable goal, and who pays. Answer them here; your browser writes the document (PDF, print, text) for any clinic. Nothing is sent, nothing is stored, no partner clinics.

1. What is it about?

Complaint

Since 1 November 2018 a specialist doctor may prescribe a cannabis-based product for any condition where they judge it clinically appropriate; NICE guidance NG144 shapes what the NHS will fund, not what a private specialist may prescribe. The consultation follows the same logic everywhere: what is the diagnosis, what has been tried, what speaks against it, what is the goal — and how do we measure whether it is reached.

Your complaint, in your own words

Since when

Severity 0–10 (last 7 days)

What it stops you doing

A measure the clinic may expect: A scale for your main symptom (0–10) over two weeks.

2. Diagnoses and treatment so far

Confirmed diagnoses (as in your medical records)Who treats you so farTreatments tried — one per line: medicine or measure, period, result

This is the core of the consultation: the doctor must check that standard treatment has been exhausted or is ruled out for good reason. What a clinic usually wants to see here: The first-line treatment for your condition; Second-line or combination treatment; Non-drug approaches (physio-, psycho-, occupational therapy).

Current medicines and substances

3. What might speak against it

Tick honestly — the doctor will ask anyway, and it decides the product and the dose, not only yes or no.

Psychosis, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder — in me or in the family Serious cardiovascular disease (heart attack, arrhythmia, untreated high blood pressure) Pregnancy, trying to conceive, or breastfeeding Substance use disorder, current or past Under 25 years old Serious liver or kidney diseaseDriving or machinery at work?

4. Who pays, which product, what goal

Who pays

Product, if already discussed

Treatment goal — how you and the doctor will measure success

DOCUMENT FOR THE CONSULTATION — MEDICAL CANNABIS
Completed by the patient on 01/10/2026 — preparation, not a medical assessment. Whether and what is prescribed is the doctor's decision.

1. COMPLAINT — OTHER COMPLAINTS
[not filled in yet]

2. DIAGNOSES AND TREATING DOCTORS
[not filled in yet]

3. TREATMENTS TRIED (MEDICINE / MEASURE — PERIOD — RESULT, SIDE EFFECTS)
[not filled in yet]
What the doctor usually wants to see here: The first-line treatment for your condition; Second-line or combination treatment; Non-drug approaches (physio-, psycho-, occupational therapy).

4. CURRENT MEDICINES AND SUBSTANCES (INCLUDING ALCOHOL, NICOTINE, OVER-THE-COUNTER PRODUCTS)
[not filled in yet]

5. POSSIBLE REASONS AGAINST — TICKED HONESTLY
None of the points asked applies.

6. WHO PAYS
[not filled in yet]

7. TREATMENT GOAL — HOW SUCCESS IS MEASURED
[e.g.: A scale for your main symptom (0–10) over two weeks.]

8. QUESTIONS FOR THE DOCTOR
• Is there any evidence for my condition at all — and which?
• Which product, which dose, which goal, which period for the trial?
• What does it cost me, and what happens at the repeat prescription?
• How does the repeat prescription work, and what does it cost?
• Which side effects are expected in the first weeks, and when should I get in touch?

The PDF carries our letterhead and the date so the clinic can see where the document comes from. It is built in your browser and sent nowhere. It is your preparation, not a medical assessment — whether and what is prescribed is the doctor's decision.

Where to take it

To any clinic with a CQC or HIW record — from our directory, alphabetical, no commission

Clinics and telemedicine · Pharmacies · Do the self-check first

What is different here from a clinic's own intake form: this document goes to whichever clinic you choose, not to a partner who pays for the lead. The questions are the ones every CQC-registered clinic and every GMC guideline asks — standard treatment exhausted or unsuitable, contraindications, a measurable goal. A document that answers them shortens the first consultation and makes a refusal, if it comes, understandable.

Who pays: in practice you do. NHS England has funded unlicensed cannabis-based products for fewer than five patients since 2018; a specialist may prescribe privately, and the pharmacy dispenses against a private prescription. Most private medical insurance excludes these products. Clinics publish their consultation fees; the medicine's price is in the clinic's formulary, which you see after registration. Ask about the repeat-prescription fee before the first appointment — it is the number that recurs.

What is different in the United Kingdom

Initiation sits with a doctor on the GMC Specialist Register; a GP may continue a prescription under a shared-care agreement but may not start one.
Two licensed medicines exist (Sativex, Epidyolex) and nabilone; everything else — flowers, oils, cartridges — is an unlicensed special imported under an MHRA licence.
The NHS route is open on paper and closed in practice; treatment is private and self-funded, indefinitely.
Driving: a statutory THC limit of 2 µg/L in blood, with a medical defence for a patient who takes the medicine as prescribed and is not impaired. The defence must be raised; it is not automatic.
Clinic medication lists may not be displayed openly online; the price of a named product is in the formulary after registration.

The route to a prescription · Cost — why it is private · Clinics and telemedicine · Driving and travel