What a new prescriber is likely to ask for
Ask the new service which records it needs before you pay. A prescriber deciding whether to continue treatment will usually want to know what you take now and how it has gone. The HSE asks patients to tell their doctor about every medicine they take, and the Medical Council suggests having your medicine list, your pharmacy's details and your GP's contact details ready for an online consultation.
- The medicine name and strength, as printed on the pen or pack
- The date of your last dose
- When you started, and how long you spent at each dose
- Side effects, and any dose that was lowered or delayed
- Your other medicines and supplements
- Your previous prescriber's and your GP's contact details
Why a gap in doses matters
The EU product information for both weekly injections covers missed doses. For Wegovy, a missed dose is taken within 5 days, otherwise skipped, and if more doses are missed, a lower starting dose should be considered when treatment restarts. For Mounjaro, the window is 4 days. These rules are applied by your prescriber, not by you. If a switch leaves you without medicine, tell the new prescriber the date of your last dose and let them decide how to continue. The HSE advises talking to your doctor before changing a dose, changing medicine or stopping.
Does my existing prescription move with me?
Usually not. The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) says a prescription sent through Healthmail, the HSE's electronic prescription system, is valid only in unalterable electronic form traceable to the prescriber. It can be forwarded to another pharmacy only in very exceptional circumstances for continuity of care, for example when the first pharmacy has no stock or you want to collect remaining repeats elsewhere. Once forwarded, the first pharmacy can make no further supply against it. A printout given to you is marked 'copy' and is not a valid prescription, and the PSI says prescriptions sent by personal or commercial email or fax are not legally valid. When you change provider, the simplest route is usually a new prescription from the new prescriber to the pharmacy you choose.
Moving between a UK or Northern Ireland service and an Irish one
The PSI says Irish rules recognise prescriptions written in the UK by registered doctors for dispensing in the State, provided the prescription was not issued with a view to supplying the medicine by mail order and was not issued by means of information society services (a legal term that includes online services). It also says prescriptions from doctors outside the EU and EEA, other than the UK, are not valid in Ireland. Ask the receiving pharmacist whether they can accept your prescription before you pay.
How long a prescription lasts
The PSI says the maximum validity of a prescription, other than for certain controlled drugs, is 12 months from the date of issue where that period is written on it. Since 1 September 2024, pharmacists can extend certain prescriptions written for six months to a maximum of 12 months if they judge it safe and appropriate, and must tell the original prescriber. Whether that applies to your prescription is the pharmacist's professional judgement, so ask.
Tell both teams
Let your current prescriber know you are moving, and ask the new one how they will receive your records securely. Do not upload medical records to GLP-1.ie or post them in a public forum. GLP-1.ie cannot transfer a prescription, approve a repeat or advise on doses.