The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has published a new review calling for increased clinical safeguards and greater transparency to ensure that weight management medicines and services are safe, reliable and person-centred.
Titled 'Weight management medicines and services: A review of GPhC inspections and concerns', the review draws on analysis of pharmacy inspection reports and concerns received between January 2024 and December 2025.
It examines the rapidly increasing provision of weight management medicines, including GLP-1 receptor agonists, through registered pharmacies in Great Britain.
As per the findings, while many pharmacies are delivering these services appropriately, standards were not always consistently met.
Some of the common issues included:
- Insufficiently documented or outdated risk assessments and clinical governance processes
- Poor documentation of clinical consultations and decision-making
- Inadequate assurance of safety and safe processes when working with third-party prescribing services
- Lack of independent verification or information to determine BMI and inconsistent clinical follow-up
During the same period, the GPhC received 1,307 concerns relating to weight management medicines and services. The principal areas of concern were:
- Prescribing practice (27 percent), including unsafe or inappropriate prescribing and poor clinical oversight
- Customer service (25 percent), including delivery delays, refund disputes, and a lack of clear communication or accessible complaints processes
- Advertising (17 percent), including non-compliant promotion of prescription-only medicines
- Additional concerns (31 percent) relating to product quality, cold chain failures, dispensing errors, and potential unlawful supply
The review calls for the following targeted actions that pharmacy owners, pharmacy teams and prescribers should take to improve practice and meet regulatory standards.
- Robust, regularly reviewed risk assessments and standard operating procedures for weight management services
- Effective clinical governance and oversight, including appropriate due diligence when working with third-party prescribing services
- Independent verification of clinical information, such as weight and height to determine BMI, in line with GPhC guidance
- Individual review of clinical suitability, with specific consideration to guidance available to support vulnerable groups, including individuals with eating disorders
- All consultations and clinical decision-making to be thoroughly documented
- Clear communication and accessible ongoing support
GPhC chief pharmacy officer Roz Gittins said, "Weight management medicines and services are a rapidly evolving area of practice, and public interest in these treatments continues to grow.
“Our review will help pharmacies and prescribers understand what is working well and where improvements are needed. Sharing learning from our inspections and concerns allows us to promote good practice and support continuous improvement across the sector.
“This is about more than compliance. By strengthening governance, enhancing clinical safeguards and improving transparency, pharmacy teams can ensure that the services they provide are safe, reliable and person-centred.”
