Medication Query & Prescription Advice

What is Medication Query & Prescription Advice?

A pharmacist-led advice service for practices and PCNs, answering prescription and medication-related queries.

Virtual Pharmacist provides a structured medication advice service, supporting safe and effective prescribing and medicines optimisation within primary care. Our team of pharmacists deliver clear, practical, evidence-based advice that is clinically governed and aligned to national guidance. This service covers a wide range of queries to enhance patient outcomes and safety.

How Will This Help My Practice?

Our expertly trained pharmacists operate under robust clinical governance frameworks to provide medication advice and support GPs’ final prescribing decisions.

Improves prescribing safety

Utilising expert reviews of interactions, doses, and monitoring.

Supports complex decision-making

Valuable for patients with higher prescribing risk or polypharmacy.

Reduces GP and clinician workload

By efficiently supporting high-volume medication queries.

Provides specialist advice

Assisting with workflows and final GP prescribing responsibilities.

Adheres to national guidance

NICE, BNF, MHRA alerts and local formularies to enhance practice compliance.

Adapts to practice demand

A scalable service that reduces delays caused by limited in-house capacity.

“The phones were relentless. Patients chasing scripts, pharmacy calling, GPs asking why something hadn’t been actioned. Now our reception team isn’t fielding those calls constantly. I didn’t think one change would make such a difference to the atmosphere in the building, but it has.”

Practice Manager, South Yorkshire

“Virtual Pharmacist has taken real pressure off our prescription workflow. Medication queries are handled quickly and safely, and our GPs have noticeably more time for patient-facing care.”

Practice Manager, West Midlands

“The structured medication reviews have made a measurable difference to our QOF performance, and the clinical governance behind the service gives our partners real confidence.”

How Does Virtual Pharmacist Work?

Explore our services

Take a look through our services to find out which one works best to support your practice’s needs.

Submit an enquiry

Get in touch with us or submit an enquiry to tell us which service solution your practice requires.

Get started

We’ll be in touch within 48 hours to introduce you to our managed clinical pharmacy service and how it works for your practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can access this service?

Our Medication Query & Prescription Advice support service is available to GPs, practice nurses, practice and PCN pharmacists, advanced practitioners, and authorised administrative staff (where appropriate and agreed).

Does this service include prescribing?

This service focuses on specialist clinical advice to support decision-making. Final prescription decisions and the responsibility to do so still remains with the GP or prescriber. Independent prescribing is only included where explicitly commissioned and agreed.

How is the advice communicated and documented?

Our pharmacists’ advice is documented and conveyed through agreed secure communication channels or within the clinical system – whichever best suits the practice. This ensures both traceability and clear audit trails.

Advice response times are also contractually agreed and designed to meet the unique demands of routine and urgent primary care queries. Clear service-level expectations are outlined from the beginning.

Is this service suitable for complex patient needs?

Yes – it is particularly valuable for patients with multimorbidity, polypharmacy, or higher prescribing risks. Our team of pharmacists are expertly trained to provide advice for all patient needs.

Which queries are suitable for this service?

A wide range of medication queries are advised on and supported through this Virtual Pharmacist service, including:

Dosage adjustments and optimisation Checking the new medication against any interactions or dangers for current medication or conditions
Side effect assessments and management
Switching medicines due to formulary changes or supply issues
Monitoring requirements and abnormal result interpretations
Prescribing considerations, such as for pregnancy, renal or hepatic impairment, frailty, and polypharmacy

About Us

Quality Audits & Compliance Management

Medication Reviews & Prescription Management

Managing Long-Term Conditions

Quality Audits & Compliance Management

NHS Support

Resource Hub

Medication Query & Prescription Advice