Understanding the cost of private medical cannabis treatment

Why patients may encounter private costs

The NHS says very few people in England are likely to receive an NHS medical-cannabis prescription. NHS England confirms that appropriately registered specialist doctors can prescribe privately, with professional and controlled-drug requirements still applying. When treatment is private, patients should establish which clinical, prescribing, medicine and pharmacy costs they must meet themselves.

Build the price from its separate parts

• Assessment: initial consultation, medical-record review or eligibility screening.
• Clinical follow-up: required reviews, review frequency and charges for additional appointments.
• Membership: any recurring plan fee and exactly what it replaces or includes.
• Prescription administration: repeat, rewrite or product-change charges.
• Medicine: the amount charged for each prescribed item or quantity.
• Pharmacy and delivery: dispensing, postage, split-shipment or special-delivery charges.
• Other foreseeable costs: clinician letters, travel documents, records, missed appointments or cancellation.

Ask whether the quoted amounts include every unavoidable fee. The Competition and Markets Authority says traders must present clear, complete and accurate total prices up front and must not hide mandatory charges until later.

Separate first-year and ongoing costs

An initial assessment may make the first year more expensive. A discounted opening period can also make later costs higher than the headline figure suggests. Compare:

• Amount payable before a prescribing decision is made.
• Likely total over the first 12 months.
• Likely annual cost after introductory offers end.
• What is refundable if the clinician does not prescribe.
• What changes if more frequent monitoring is clinically required.

Medicine cost cannot be guaranteed in advance

A clinic may show examples, but the medicine and quantity—if any—must follow an individual prescribing decision. Availability and the prescription may change. Ask how the pharmacy confirms the final price, whether substitutions require clinical approval and whether you can decline an unaffordable option before payment.

Do not choose a medicine or pressure a prescriber to reach a target price using GreenGuruAI’s cost tool. It is for budgeting after receiving actual fee information.

Questions to ask before paying

• Is the eligibility check free, and is it a clinical assessment?
• What do I pay if I am assessed but not prescribed?
• Which appointments are mandatory and how often?
• Does membership include consultations, repeats and prescription changes?
• Are medicine, dispensing and delivery separate?
• Are there charges for letters, travel documents, cancellations or switching pharmacy?
• How are price changes communicated, and can I leave or pause?
• Who handles refunds, complaints and continuity if the service closes?

Check the provider—not only the price

UK private prescribers must be regulated healthcare professionals, and the provider may also need registration with the appropriate regulator. Verify the clinician and provider independently. A low price does not establish clinical suitability, regulatory status, continuity or service quality.