Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance is in place for NHS general practitioners asked to enter shared-care or monitoring arrangements for patients receiving gender-related prescriptions from private or overseas providers; and whether general practitioners are under any obligation to do so.

Further to the answer provided on 28 September in response to question HL3452, since 1 January 2025, fulfilment of private prescriptions for puberty blockers for people under 18 years old with gender incongruence or gender dysphoria has been banned under the provisions of section 62 of the Medicines Act 1968. This includes prescriptions issued by prescribers in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland.

While United Kingdom pharmacies can otherwise dispense prescriptions issued by appropriately regulated prescribers in the EEA or Switzerland, they can refuse to dispense a prescription if they have concerns about whether it is genuine, clinically appropriate, or safe. The Government is currently considering the findings of our recent call for evidence on non-National Health Service prescribing, including on the recognition of EEA and Swiss prescriptions in the UK.

The regulatory oversight of clinics operating outside the England, and not providing regulated activities in England, is a matter for the governments in the jurisdiction in which those clinics are based.

The General Medical Council is clear that a decision about whether to enter into a shared care agreement is for the general practitioner (GP) to make. NHS England has provided specific guidance advising GPs against shared care agreements with unregulated providers in relation to hormone medication to children and young people under 18 years old as a response to gender incongruence or gender dysphoria.