Please note: This article was updated on March 21 2025 to clarify that references to ‘prescriptions’ in Numan’s targets were to ‘consultations’, that the targets are not cumulative and that third-party comments were made prior to clarifications from Numan.
Pharmacists last week (December 6) took to social media to share their concerns over hourly patient consultation review targets for independent prescribers (IPs) at online pharmacies.
According to an apparent job description for an IP at Numan seen by C+D, the online pharmacy aims “to respond to patient contact within 24 hours” to achieve “a green status of operations”.
To ensure it is “operating in a green status, [Numan has] created minimum service level agreements for each task undertaken in an hour period”, it said.
Read more: New online pharmacy regs ‘effective immediately’ amid weight loss risks
It set out a “target per hour” for 14 weight loss consultations, six replies to weight loss “tickets” and 25 “tasks”.
It also set hourly targets of 28 reviews of general non-weight loss patient consultations and six replies to general non-weight loss tickets per hour – although the pharmacy clarified that none of the targets are cumulative.
C+D analysis found that to meet the targets, an IP would have to work through a general review every 2.1 minutes – or one weight loss review every 4.2 minutes.
The online pharmacy stressed that the figures refer to reviews rather than signed prescriptions and include those rejected on safety grounds.
The pharmacy told C+D that patient safety is its “number one priority” and that its prescribers “are guided solely by their professional judgment”. Read its comment in full below.
“Shocking”
Pharmacists voiced concerns about IP targets across the industry on X, formerly known as Twitter. All the comments were made prior to the clarifications provided by Numan.
Locum pharmacist Tohidul Islam asked what “safety netting [is] in place to ensure patients get the right medication and support for their weight loss journey”.
“Experienced weight loss clinic pharmacists tell me they need at least 20 mins to speak to a patient properly before deciding whether Wegovy [or] Mounjaro…should be prescribed,” he said.
Read more: New GPhC weight loss regs: Online patient forms must be ‘supplemented’
“These injections are prescription-only medicines (POMs) and need to be prescribed safely,” he added.
“It’s shocking just how easy it is to get an injection from these companies,” he claimed.
“Firm action required”
“These types of companies are why we are seeing so [much] inappropriate prescribing of Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists”, another pharmacist said.
“Unrealistic and unsafe time targets only make things worse not only for the patient but also for the prescriber,” they added.
Deeming targets an “absolute scandal”, IP Tony Schofield said that he knows of “people who are scared to stop using [weight loss drugs] so lie every month to get new supplies”.
Read more: ‘Clear message’: GPhC issues warnings for prescribing via online questionnaires
Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA) president and pharmacist Dr Graham Stretch slammed online pharmacies for “treating injectable medications like grocery items at a Lidl checkout”.
“We know of deaths and multiple fitness-to-practice (FtP) cases – firm action [is] required,” he added.
“Safety is our number one priority”
Numan’s medical director Dr Bryony Henderson today (December 11) told C+D that the company is “at the forefront of bringing safe, accessible healthcare to people at the heart of a national obesity crisis”.
“Safety is our number one priority: patients, rightly, demand it and we aim to uphold the highest standards,” she said.
“Every patient who comes to us undergoes a thorough diagnostic process and must provide truthful, detailed responses, along with any required evidence so our clinicians can rigorously assess each case,” she added.
Read more: Make superintendents ‘responsible’ for stricter Wegovy safeguards, says GPhC
“All our independent prescribers are always given the time they need to make safe, informed decisions with the full support of our clinical team,” she said.
She stressed that Numan’s “prescribers are guided solely by their professional judgment” and that “they are all required to be weight-loss trained, prescribing pharmacists, clinicians or doctors”, whether a locum or employee.
The pharmacy also stressed that both consultation timing targets and service level agreements (SLAs) are standard practice and designed to maintain efficiency without compromising safety.
It said that its targets were established by consulting clinicians at levels they considered safe based on their professional experience and historical data.
