COVID-19 Antiviral Clinical Assessment for Treatment

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About COVID-19 Antiviral Assessments
How the Service Works
Frequently Asked Questions
Book Now

About the service

Following the move in June for COVID-19 antiviral treatment (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir) to be made available for ordering, we have spent some time developing a service allowing the provision of antiviral treatment for people who are eligible to receive it.

The reason it wasn’t previously available, is national guidelines kept the stock for NHS use, for patients most at risk of serious complications from COVID-19.

We’re offering the service now because COVID-19 can still cause significant illness, especially in people with underlying health conditions.

How does the service work?

  1. Choose how you’d like to do your consultation

You can choose to do either an online consultation or an in-person consultation. Both will be carried out by one of our Independent Prescribing Pharmacists who will check you are eligible for treatment, advise you on managing your symptoms, and, where appropriate, complete a prescription for antiviral treatment for you.

Regardless of whether you have a prescription from abroad, have been advised by another healthcare provider to seek antiviral treatment or have a positive COVID-19 test, you must complete the clinical consultation with a prescriber in order to get a prescription from us.

The consultation will be very thorough, discussing various aspects of your health including your medical history, current medicines (you must be able to provide a reliable list of these) and current symptoms.

2. Choose where you’d like to get your prescription dispensed

At the end of your consultation, you may be issued with a prescription which you can take to a pharmacy of your choosing*.

* Different pharmacies have different suppliers and ordering systems. As such, we can make no guarantee of the availability of medicines at another pharmacy, whether they are able to obtain the medicines or how much they would cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • This service is for people aged over 18, who are in a group considered at high risk of complications from a COVID-19 infection.

    Patients must also:

    • Have a confirmed positive COVID-19 test from within the last 120 hours (5 days) (PCR or lateral flow tests are acceptable)

    • Have had an onset of symptoms within the last 120 hours (5 days)

  • Certain people are more at risk of serious complications from a COVID-19 infection. These include:

    • People with Down Syndrome, or other chromosomal disorders

    • People with cancer

    • People with blood diseases

    • People who have received a stem cell transplant

    • People with renal (kidney) diseases

    • People with hepatic (liver) diseases

    • People who have received an organ transplant

    • People with inflammatory immune disorders (e.g. arthritis)

    • People with respiratory (breathing) illnesses (e.g. asthma)

    • People with immune deficiencies

    • People with a diagnosis of HIV or AIDS

    • People with neurological disorders

  • In most cases, patients with prescriptions from other countries are unable to dispense them in the UK as the prescriptions are not considered legally valid. You can find out whether your prescription can be dispensed with us by checking here.

    If your existing prescription is not valid (and therefore can’t be dispensed), you will need a new UK based prescription in order that it can be dispensed. This is included in our service.

    If you believe your current prescription may be legally valid in the UK, email us at prescriptions@pharmacyclinicedinburgh.co.uk and we’ll be happy to help you get it dispensed.

  • Simply complete the booking below. When you do, your payment details will be saved and we’ll debit you before your appointment (or refund 50% if you miss your appointment, per our terms and conditions)

  • We have only one option for the service right now:

    1. Consultation and prescription (the medicine itself is not included)

      This service costs £250. This covers the cost of our in-depth consultation, clinician’s time and prescribing. (Per our terms and conditions if the appointment is missed you will be charged 50% of the consultation fee (£125))

  • You’ll be charged our standard consultation charge of £150. Any prescriptions which we are able to provide will not incur an added cost.

    This is in line with our consultation service which you can find here.

  • If you cancel your appointment, more than 12 hours before the appointment is due to take place, you will not be charged.

    Appointments cancelled within this window or after the fact will be charged at a rate of 50% of the consultation fee (£125) per our terms and conditions

  • At present we are only able to provide Paxlovid through this service.

  • The antiviral treatment licensed for COVID-19 in the UK is called Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir are the ingredients)

    You can read the patient information leaflet for Paxlovid here

Book Now

Please note that the provision of medicines (dispensing) is not included in the consultation and prescription price of £250. We are not presently able to dispense the medicine in-house, so you’ll need to get the prescription dispensed at another pharmacy.

Book an Online Consultation
Book an In-Person Consultation
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At this time we are unfortunately unable to offer the supply of medicines for the COVID-19 antiviral prescription service.

Please try again later.

If you are only interested in receiving the prescription (not the medicine) please schedule an online consultation or call us on 0131 629 1800.