Should you tell your GP about a private cannabis prescription?

You are not obliged to tell your GP, and you should. Not for anyone's benefit but your own: a doctor treating you in an emergency needs to know what you are taking, and your GP record is where they will look.

Why it matters clinically

An incomplete medication record is a safety problem. It becomes one at exactly the moment you are least able to correct it.

• Anaesthesia and surgery — anaesthetists need to know about anything sedating or affecting the cardiovascular system. This is the most important single reason.
• Drug interactions — cannabinoids interact with several commonly prescribed medicines, including some blood thinners, sedatives and antiepileptics.
• Emergency care — if you are brought in unable to speak for yourself, your record is what tells the team what is on board.
• Investigating new symptoms — knowing what you take stops a side effect being investigated as a new disease.

None of that requires your GP to approve of the treatment. It requires them to know about it.

What your GP will and will not do

Expect your GP to record it and to factor it into your care. Do not expect them to prescribe it, and do not be surprised if they are unenthusiastic.

Only a doctor on the GMC Specialist Register may initiate a prescription for an unlicensed cannabis-based product. A GP cannot start one, and in practice will very rarely take over an existing one, because doing so means accepting clinical responsibility for an unlicensed medicine prescribed by someone else.

Some GPs will have reservations, and some will say so. That is a legitimate clinical view given the evidence base, and it is worth hearing rather than dismissing. It does not affect your ability to continue with a private prescription.

What a GP will normally do is add the medicine to your record, take it into account when prescribing anything else, and pass the information on to hospital teams when they refer you. That quiet, routine record-keeping is the whole point of telling them. It means the next clinician who prescribes for you starts from an accurate list, that a new symptom is read against what you are already taking, and that nobody has to guess in a hurry. None of it depends on your GP being enthusiastic about cannabis-based medicines, only on their knowing the medicine is there.

How the information usually gets there

Most private clinics write to the GP after an initial consultation, with your consent. GMC guidance on remote prescribing expects prescribers to share information with the patient's GP unless the patient objects.

1. Give consent for the clinic to write to your GP at the start — it is usually a tick box on the registration form
2. Ask for a copy of the letter for your own records
3. If you would rather tell them yourself, book a routine appointment and take the clinic letter
4. Check at your next medication review that it appears on your record
5. Tell any hospital team, dentist or pharmacist separately — they do not automatically see your full GP record

If you do object to your GP being informed, say so explicitly and understand what you are trading away. Some clinics will decline to treat without GP notification, and that is a defensible position rather than an obstruction.

Getting your records the other way

The traffic runs both ways. A specialist needs your medical history before they can assess you, and that history sits with your GP.

You have a right of access to your own health records, and the NHS App gives most people in England direct access to a summary. Requesting your records is a normal part of starting this process and is covered in What is the process to get a medical cannabis prescription?

A clinic that offers to prescribe without seeing any records is not assessing you properly. That is one of the clearer warning signs.

Confidentiality and who can see your record

A common worry is that telling your GP means telling the world. It does not. Your GP record is confidential, and the rules on who can see it are stricter than most people assume.

Information in your record is shared with other people involved in your care, and otherwise only with your consent or where the law specifically requires it. An emergency team may see a summary of key information if you are unable to speak for yourself, which is precisely the situation in which you would want them to know what you take. Your employer cannot simply look at your record, and an insurer can only obtain a medical report with your specific, informed consent.

If confidentiality is on your mind, say so to the practice. You can ask how the information will be recorded and who would see it, and you can discuss any concerns before anything is added. Being informed about that is different from withholding information that could keep you safe — the two are not the same choice.

Keeping your own list of medicines

Your GP record is the backstop, not the only line of defence. The single most reliable way to make sure the right people know what you take is to carry the information yourself.

• Keep a current list of everything you take, prescribed and otherwise, on your phone or in your wallet
• Include the medicine, the dose and the prescribing clinic, so it can be verified quickly
• Show it to any new clinician, dentist, pharmacist or hospital team rather than assuming they can see your record
• Update it whenever your treatment changes, and keep the clinic's contact details with it

This matters most in exactly the settings where your GP record may not be to hand — a hospital in another area, an out-of-hours service, or an emergency abroad. A list you carry travels with you when your record does not.

One caveat before you rely on any of this

This is general information about how the rules on sharing information with your GP work, not legal advice, and it cannot take account of your circumstances.

The law changes, enforcement practice varies, and the details of your own case matter. If something here could affect your licence, your job or your liberty, get advice from someone qualified to give it — a solicitor, your prescriber, or the relevant authority itself. Where we can point you at the primary source, we have.

Patient guide · Written by the Flora House editorial team · Last reviewed: 2 November 2026