Emergency Prescriptions for Visitors to London 2026. How to Get Back on Your Medication Today, What a UK Doctor Can Prescribe and What Cannot Be Issued at a First Visit
The Wellness in Marylebone provides the best emergency prescription service in London for visitors who have run out of, lost or forgotten their medication, with a same-day video consultation from £150, an in-person consultation from £220 and a doctor to your hotel from £495 in the daytime and £695 in the evening or at weekends, inside a ladder that runs to £49,995 and a market where 12-month retained-doctor programmes reach £31,995. The outcome is the point, back on your medication today with the rest of your trip intact. A prescription written outside the UK cannot be dispensed by a UK pharmacy unless it comes from a prescriber in the European Economic Area or Switzerland, so a visitor from the United States, the Gulf, India or Australia needs a UK prescription, and a GMC-registered doctor can issue one after a consultation where the medication and dose are confirmed from the packaging, the original prescription, a pharmacy record or a letter from your own doctor. What cannot be issued to a visitor at a first consultation is a controlled drug, including ADHD stimulants, strong opioids and benzodiazepines, and this page says so before you book rather than after. Fees appear further down this page.
Reviewed by the medical team at The Wellness. Last updated 1 September 2026.
Tell us what you have run out of and a doctor will see you today or email team@thewellnesslondon.com or call 020 3951 3429.
Why your prescription from home does not work in London
A UK pharmacy can dispense a prescription written by a UK-registered prescriber, and since 2021 one written by a prescriber registered in the EEA or Switzerland, provided it is legible, in a form the pharmacist can verify and for a medicine licensed in the UK. A prescription from the United States, Canada, the Gulf states, India, China, Australia or anywhere outside those areas has no legal standing here, however clear it is, and a pharmacist who dispenses against it is breaking the law.
The exception is small and worth knowing. A UK pharmacist can make an emergency supply of a prescription-only medicine without a prescription, usually up to 30 days, if the medicine has previously been prescribed to you by a UK or EEA prescriber and the pharmacist can verify it, and at their own discretion. For most visitors that door is shut because their prescriber is in New York or Dubai, which is why the route is a UK doctor, a consultation and a UK prescription that any pharmacy in London can fill within the hour.
What a UK doctor can prescribe at a first consultation
Most long-term medication. The contraceptive pill, insulin and other diabetes medication, thyroid replacement, blood pressure and cholesterol treatment, inhalers, antihistamines and anti-reflux medication, epilepsy treatment, HRT, antidepressants you are already taking, anticoagulants and most heart medication can be prescribed after a consultation where the doctor confirms what you take, at what dose, and why, and is satisfied it is safe to continue. Brand names differ between countries and the doctor prescribes the UK equivalent, which the consultation explains.
The evidence the doctor needs is the medication itself or its packaging, a photo of the label, the original prescription, a pharmacy printout, a letter or summary from your own doctor, or an app record. Where none of that exists, the doctor takes a history and prescribes a short supply of what is clearly safe while the record is obtained. A traveller with insulin left in a taxi is not sent away for lack of paperwork.
Send us a photo of the medication and we will confirm what can be prescribed or email team@thewellnesslondon.com.
What cannot be issued to a visitor at a first consultation
Controlled drugs. Stimulant medication for ADHD, strong opioid painkillers, benzodiazepines and sleeping tablets of that class, and some other Schedule 2 and 3 medicines cannot appropriately be prescribed to a visitor by a doctor who has never seen them, whatever the paperwork, and no clinic in London can do that lawfully and safely. The General Medical Council's prescribing guidance is explicit, and a service that promises otherwise is telling you something about itself.
What can be done is set out before you travel. A visitor bringing controlled medication into the UK for up to 3 months needs a letter from their prescriber and, for longer stays, a Home Office personal licence, and we help with the UK side of that. A visitor who has run out is seen, the risk is assessed, and a psychiatrist consultation is arranged where continuation matters, with the referral made and the appointment booked, and where a person is at risk of withdrawal the consultation is about keeping them safe today rather than about paperwork.
Which routes should you not take
Buying medication online from a site that asks for no consultation is the first. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency seized millions of doses of unlicensed and falsified medicines in its most recent operations, and a pill bought that way may contain anything. Asking a hotel concierge to find a pharmacy that will bend the rules is the second, because the rule is a law and a pharmacist who breaks it loses their registration. Using a friend's supply of the same medicine is the third, because the dose and formulation may differ and the friend then runs short.
Going to an emergency department for a repeat prescription is the fourth. A London emergency department is not a pharmacy, will not issue a routine repeat, and will keep you for hours while it triages people who need it. The exception is a medication whose absence is itself an emergency, such as insulin in someone becoming unwell, an anti-epileptic in someone who has had a seizure, or an anticoagulant in someone with a new clot, and in those cases 999 is the right call.
What does an emergency prescription cost in London
At the top of the market, 12-month programmes with a retained doctor run to £31,995 for one person and £49,995 for a family, where a visitor's medication is arranged by a doctor who already holds the record before the flight lands. Harley Street GP consultations run £250 to £350, a private hospital urgent care attendance starts at around £300 before any prescription, and a consultant appointment costs £250 to £500. A hotel doctor called through a concierge commonly charges more than a daytime visit here.
Beneath that sits a tier defined by its conditions rather than its price, online pharmacies with a questionnaire and no doctor, sites outside UK regulation and services that promise controlled drugs they cannot issue. At The Wellness the price includes the consultation, the UK prescription sent to a pharmacy near you or delivered, and the record kept so that a second visit next year is simpler than the first. Pharmacy dispensing fees are paid to the pharmacy. All figures are from prices.
Family Office Programme, 12 months, principal and up to 3 family members, each with their own doctor and record, from £49,995
Principal Programme, 12 months, one individual, the fullest level of care, from £31,995
Continuous Care Programme, 12 months of oversight for one person, from £24,995
Psychiatrist consultation, separate from the GP, from £950
Home, hotel or office visit, evenings and weekends, from £695
Home, hotel or office visit, daytime, from £495
Extended 45-minute consultation, from £395
In-person consultation, 30 minutes, from £220
Additional household member in the same visit, from £195
Same-day video consultation, 30 minutes, from £150
Medical letter or certificate, including a medication letter for travel, from £150
Why The Wellness is the best emergency prescription service in London
The consultation is available the day you need it and the prescription goes to a pharmacy that can fill it within the hour, and that is countable. Video consultations are usually available within hours, in-person appointments the same day, and a doctor comes to your hotel in the daytime or the evening when you cannot come to us. The prescription is a UK prescription, the medicine is the UK equivalent of what you take, and the doctor explains any difference in name or strength.
The medication is confirmed, not guessed. Packaging, a label, a pharmacy record or a letter from your own doctor is checked, the dose is confirmed, interactions with anything bought over the counter for the trip are reviewed, and where nothing exists a safe short supply is prescribed while the record is obtained. A traveller with a new symptom as well as an empty box is examined, because the consultation is a consultation.
We also say no, before you book. Controlled drugs are not issued to a visitor at a first consultation here or anywhere lawful, and the psychiatrist route is offered in its place. Places on the 12-month programmes are limited by the number of people one doctor can hold properly, so they begin with an allocation call.
Book a same-day consultation and be back on your medication today or call 020 3951 3429.
Related reading
This page is one spoke of the Private GP for International Patients in London hub. Passengers who need a certificate for the flight home are covered in Fit to Fly Letter in London, visitors who need a doctor to come to the hotel in Concierge and Continuous Private GP Care in London, and the assessment behind a psychiatrist referral in Private Mental Health Assessment in London.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my prescription from home at a pharmacy in London
Only if it was written by a prescriber registered in the UK, the European Economic Area or Switzerland. Prescriptions from the United States, Canada, the Gulf, India, Australia and elsewhere cannot be dispensed in the UK. At The Wellness a GMC-registered doctor issues a UK prescription after a same-day consultation from £150, and any London pharmacy can fill it.
How much does an emergency prescription cost in London
A Harley Street GP consultation costs £250 to £350, a private urgent care attendance starts around £300 and a concierge-called hotel doctor usually costs more than a daytime visit here. At The Wellness the same-day video consultation is from £150, the in-person consultation from £220 and a hotel visit from £495 in the daytime or £695 in the evening or at weekends, with pharmacy fees paid to the pharmacy.
What do I need to bring to get my medication prescribed
The medication or its packaging, a photo of the label, the original prescription, a pharmacy record, a letter from your doctor or an app record. Where none exists, the doctor takes a history and prescribes a safe short supply while the record is obtained. At The Wellness the consultation is from £150 by video or £220 in person.
Can I get my ADHD medication or sleeping tablets as a visitor
Not at a first consultation. Controlled drugs including ADHD stimulants, strong opioids and benzodiazepines cannot appropriately be issued to a visitor by a doctor who has never seen them, here or at any lawful clinic. At The Wellness the risk is assessed, and a psychiatrist consultation from £950 is arranged with the appointment booked where continuation matters.
Can a doctor come to my hotel
Yes. A doctor visits hotels, homes and offices across central London, from £495 in the daytime and £695 in the evening or at weekends, with an additional household member seen in the same visit from £195. The prescription is sent to a pharmacy near the hotel or delivered.
Can I bring my medication into the UK
Yes. For up to 3 months' supply of most medicines, carry it in its original packaging with a letter from your prescriber. Controlled drugs for longer than 3 months need a Home Office personal licence. At The Wellness a medication letter for travel is issued after a consultation, from £150, and the UK side of a licence application is explained.
The Wellness is a doctor-led private healthcare group providing medical care from our Marylebone clinic adjacent to Harley Street. All doctors are GMC-registered. Prescriptions are dispensed by registered UK pharmacies, and blood analysis is performed by accredited laboratories. Running out of insulin while unwell, a seizure in someone who has missed anti-epileptic medication, or chest pain in someone who has stopped heart medication need emergency care, not a routine appointment. In an emergency call 999. This article is general information and not a substitute for medical advice about your own health.
Send us your question about medication in London or email team@thewellnesslondon.com or call 020 3951 3429.
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