# Blood test first or questionnaire alone? UK guide Canonical URL: https://www.hemed.com/blog/blood-test-first-or-questionnaire-alone Plain-text URL: https://www.hemed.com/blog/blood-test-first-or-questionnaire-alone/llms.txt Published: 2026-10-27 Modified: 2026-10-27 Author: The HeMed clinical team Topic: Weight-loss treatment Topic URL: https://www.hemed.com/blog/topic/weight-loss-treatment Tags: Eligibility and choosing a programme Reading time: 11 min Publisher: HeMed (https://www.hemed.com/) ## Summary The pharmacy regulator says a questionnaire alone is not enough for weight management prescribing. How a blood-test-first service differs, and what to ask. ## Article UK online weight management services differ in what they check before a clinician decides anything. Some rely on a questionnaire alone: the details you declare online. A blood-test-first service adds a blood test and a clinician's review of your results. The pharmacy regulator has said that prescribing for weight management is not suitable for a questionnaire model alone. ### What is the difference between a blood-test-first service and one that relies on a questionnaire alone? The difference is what a service checks about you before a clinician decides whether treatment is suitable for you. A service that relies on a questionnaire alone bases the decision on the height, weight and medical history you declare online. Some accept photographs as support. A blood-test-first service adds an at-home blood test, and a clinician then reviews your results alongside your medical history before deciding anything about treatment. Both models start with questions. The regulators' concern is what happens after the questions, not the questions themselves. ### How does a service that relies on a questionnaire alone work? You answer a set of online questions and a prescriber reads your answers. In this model your BMI (body mass index, your weight in relation to your height) rests on the height and weight you declare. In February 2025 the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), the pharmacy regulator in Great Britain, updated its guidance for online pharmacy services. Its list of medicines "not suitable to be prescribed by a questionnaire model alone" includes medicines used for weight management. In April 2026 the GPhC reviewed inspections and concerns from January 2024 to December 2025. It reported cases "where BMI could be self-declared through online questionnaires alone, or supported by photographs that could be easily manipulated". ### How does a blood-test-first service work? You still answer the questions first. You then take a blood test, and a clinician reads the results alongside your answers before deciding whether treatment is suitable. The General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates doctors in the UK, asks whether a doctor "can verify other important information by examination or testing". A blood test is one way to do that. A blood test does not replace the other checks. The clinician still needs your medical history, your GP's details and a way to talk to you. ### What have the UK regulators said about each model? The GPhC says a questionnaire alone is not enough for a safe prescribing decision. The GMC tells doctors they may need to raise concerns about remote prescribing on a questionnaire with no two-way dialogue. The GPhC's guidance applies to pharmacies and the online prescribing services they work with. The GMC's guidance applies to all doctors in all settings, face to face or remote. #### The pharmacy regulator's guidance (February 2025) The prescriber must not base a decision "on the information provided in a questionnaire alone". Instead they must independently verify what you provide, for example through "timely two-way communication", your clinical records or contact with your GP or regular prescriber. If they cannot verify it, they should direct you to an appropriate care provider instead. For weight management the prescriber must also independently verify your weight, height or BMI. The guidance names four ways: a video consultation, an in-person check, your clinical records or contact with another healthcare provider such as your GP. A phone call "would not be appropriate". The prescriber should also hold your GP's details and your consent to share information. If you have no GP or do not consent, they must carry out an individual risk-based assessment before deciding. #### The pharmacy regulator's review (April 2026) The GPhC received 1,307 concerns about weight management medicines and services in 2024 and 2025. Prescribing practice accounted for 27% of them. Inadequate verification of BMI was the third most frequently reported area of concern, at 11%. The review tells prescribers to verify medical history, weight and height independently, "rather than relying solely on self-reported questionnaires". #### The doctors' regulator The GMC says a doctor should only prescribe with "adequate knowledge of the patient's health". It says a doctor may need to raise concerns about a system that prescribes remotely "on the basis of a questionnaire" with no two-way dialogue. ### Does the regulator require a blood test before prescribing? No, neither regulator requires a blood test. The GPhC names four ways to verify weight, height or BMI: video consultation, an in-person check, your clinical records or another healthcare provider. A blood test is not among them. A blood test is a choice a service makes about how much it wants to know. The GMC lists "blood tests or other investigations" among the monitoring and review arrangements a doctor should explain to you. Neither regulator's guidance names a blood test as a way to verify what you declare. A blood test does not make the decision quicker or more certain, whichever model a service uses. ### What should you ask a service before you sign up? Ask five questions before you sign up. Each maps to something the regulators expect. - How do you verify my weight, height and medical history? Look for one of the regulator's methods: video, in person, your clinical records or contact with your GP. A photograph or a phone call is not one of them. - Who reviews my information, and are they registered? Pharmacists and pharmacies appear on the public GPhC register. In England the clinical provider should be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and social care. You can search its website for a service. - Do you ask for my GP's details, and will you share information with my GP? The GPhC expects the prescriber to hold your GP's details and share relevant information with your consent. It expects an individual risk-based assessment if you decline. - Can I talk to a clinician, before and after the decision? Two-way communication is what both regulators expect. - What monitoring, follow-up and review is included? The GMC says a doctor should explain the arrangements for monitoring and review, including blood tests or other investigations. The GPhC review tells prescribers to review each supply individually. #### Where the fuller checklist is Our checklist for weight loss programmes has the fuller list, and our guide to eligibility explains how a clinician decides. ### How does HeMed work? HeMed is a clinician-led weight loss and metabolic health service for men in the UK, built around an at-home blood test. In April 2026 the pharmacy regulator reported cases where weight-loss treatment was approved on a self-declared online questionnaire alone, and told prescribers to verify rather than rely on it. HeMed starts with a blood test. The process starts with a short online assessment and a needle-free at-home blood test measuring 10 markers across heart, liver, blood sugar and thyroid. A clinician reviews your blood test first. Treatment is prescription-only and is prescribed only where a clinician decides it is suitable. #### How HeMed checks who it is assessing Before you take the test, you join a live video call with a HeMed proctor (a trained guide), who checks your identity and your weight. That way the person who answered the questions is the person the clinician assesses. You can then take the test with the proctor on the call, or register your sample and take it on your own afterwards. Whether HeMed is suitable is a clinical decision made on your assessment and blood test. If the test shows the plan is not suitable, HeMed explains why and refunds your first payment in full. The terms set out when a refund applies. Every prescription is issued and overseen by a named, qualified clinician. We share a summary of your check-ins, progress and the advice you receive with your GP. This is a condition of the programme. #### Who provides HeMed's clinical care Clinical, consultation and prescribing services are provided by eMed, a CQC-registered provider, and the pharmacy partner is GPhC-registered. The registration numbers are on How HeMed is regulated. ### Frequently asked questions **Is a questionnaire enough to be prescribed weight loss treatment online in the UK?** Not on its own, according to the regulators. The GPhC says prescribing for weight management is not suitable for a questionnaire model alone. The prescriber must independently verify your weight, height or BMI, for example by video consultation or from your clinical records. **What counts as independent verification of my weight?** Independent means the prescriber uses a different way to verify the information you gave them. For weight, height or BMI the GPhC names a video consultation, an in-person check, your clinical records or contact with another healthcare provider. **Does a blood test make a prescription more likely?** No. A blood test gives the clinician more information about your health, not a different set of criteria. The decision rests on the whole picture, and the answer can still be no. **Will an online service tell my GP?** The GPhC expects the prescriber to hold your GP's details and your consent to share relevant information. If you have no GP or do not consent, the prescriber must carry out an individual risk-based assessment before deciding. **Does HeMed use a questionnaire too?** Yes. The process starts with a short online assessment and a needle-free at-home blood test measuring 10 markers across heart, liver, blood sugar and thyroid. A clinician reviews your blood test first. Whether HeMed is suitable is a clinical decision made on your assessment and blood test. **Can an online service check my weight by phone?** Not for weight management, according to the pharmacy regulator. Its guidance says verifying information through a phone call would not be appropriate when supplying medication for weight loss. The ways it names are a video consultation, an in-person check, your clinical records or contact with another healthcare provider such as your GP. **How do I check that an online weight management service is regulated?** Ask for the registration numbers, then search the public registers yourself. Pharmacists and pharmacies appear on the General Pharmaceutical Council register, and in England the clinical provider should be registered with the Care Quality Commission. A service that cannot tell you who is registered and with whom has not answered the question. HeMed provides clinician-led weight management. This page is general health information, not medical advice. Treatment is prescription-only and is prescribed only where a clinician decides it is suitable. If you are worried about symptoms, speak to your GP, or use NHS 111. Next step: see what the HeMed blood test measures. Sources (5) - General Pharmaceutical Council, "Guidance for registered pharmacies providing pharmacy services at a distance, including on the internet", February 2025, section 4.2 items j, k and l (pp. 23 to 25): some medicines are "not suitable to be prescribed by a questionnaire model alone", a list that includes "medicines used for weight management"; the prescriber "does not base prescribing decisions on the information provided in a questionnaire alone" and verifies information "through timely two-way communication with the person, accessing the person's clinical records, or contacting the person's GP, their regular prescriber, or a third-party provider", or directs the person "to an appropriate care provider"; the person provides their GP's details and "consent to contact them about the prescription", with "an individual risk-based assessment" where there is no GP or no consent; for weight management the prescriber "independently verifies the person's weight, height and/or body mass index" through "a video consultation, in person, from the person's clinical records or by contacting another healthcare provider such as the person's GP", and "verifying information through a phone call would not be appropriate when supplying medication for weight loss". pharmacyregulation.org (PDF). Accessed 27 October 2026. - General Pharmaceutical Council, "Weight management medicines and services: a review of GPhC inspections and concerns", April 2026 (pp. 2 to 3, 7, 10 and 17): 1,307 concerns received between January 2024 and December 2025, prescribing practice 27% of them; inadequate or inappropriate verification of BMI "the third most frequently reported area of concern (11%)"; cases "where BMI could be self-declared through online questionnaires alone, or supported by photographs that could be easily manipulated"; prescribers told to "independently verify medical history as well as weight and height to determine BMI, rather than relying solely on self-reported questionnaires", not to "rely on questionnaire models alone", and that "every supply request should be individually reviewed for clinical suitability". pharmacyregulation.org (PDF). Accessed 27 October 2026. - General Medical Council, "Good practice in proposing, prescribing, providing and managing medicines and devices" (in effect from 5 April 2021, updated 15 March 2022 and 13 December 2024), section "Deciding if it is safe to propose, prescribe or provide medicines, treatment and devices", paragraphs 19 to 39: prescribe only with "adequate knowledge of the patient's health"; consider whether you have access to the medical records and "can verify other important information by examination or testing"; establish "a dialogue with your patient"; it may be appropriate to raise concerns if a system "involves prescribing remotely on the basis of a questionnaire and there is no mechanism for two-way dialogue or communication with patients"; explain arrangements for monitoring, follow-up and review "including further consultation, blood tests or other investigations"; the guidance's index page: "The standards of good practice apply to all doctors working in all settings." gmc-uk.org. Accessed 27 October 2026. - General Pharmaceutical Council, "Registers" (page last updated 19 October 2026): "You can check their details and registration status by using the search facility below." pharmacyregulation.org. Accessed 27 October 2026. - Care Quality Commission, home page: "We're CQC, the independent regulator of health and social care in England"; "Use our inspection reports to find and compare services"; "You must register with us to carry on any of the activities we regulate". cqc.org.uk. Accessed 27 October 2026. Numbered markers in the page text link to these entries. Statistics describe populations, not any one person’s results. Published 27 October 2026. --- This is the plain-text version of the article at https://www.hemed.com/blog/blood-test-first-or-questionnaire-alone, generated from the page on 2026-10-27. It is for information only and is not medical advice. Whether any treatment is right for a person is a clinical decision. Statistics describe populations, not any one person's results.