Written question WQ93246

As stated in my response to WQ93245 and WQ93247, the licensing and regulation of medicines in the UK is a reserved matter and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). This includes assessing and ensuring the ongoing safety and effectiveness of all medicinal products.

Within NHS Wales, medicines such as semaglutide (Wegovy®, Ozempic®) and other GLP-1 Receptor Agonists are prescribed only through specialist weight management services providing multidisciplinary management of overweight and obesity in line with the All Wales Weight Management Pathway. Specialist weight management services prescribe only in accordance with the strict eligibility criteria defined by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and provide regular follow up to ensure the medicines are effective and not causing potentially harmful side effects.

As a prescription only medicine, semaglutide can only be supplied in accordance with a prescription from a registered healthcare professional. Professionals prescribing and supplying these medicines are required to take steps to ensure prescriptions for these medicines are appropriate and that they are used safely and effectively. Healthcare professionals are directly accountable to their respective professional regulator.

Where people choose to access private treatment they should ensure this is from a reputable service and ideally one registered with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales. If people obtain medicines online they should do so from pharmacies participating in the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC’s) internet pharmacy logo scheme which provides reassurance to patients and the public that they are purchasing medicines from registered pharmacies which meet GPhC standards.

Whilst supplies of semaglutide (Ozempic®) continue to be constrained, clinicians have been instructed to only prescribe for its licensed indications only.