Botulinum toxin — the drug behind every anti-wrinkle treatment on the market — is a prescription-only medicine, or POM. That places it in the same legal category as antibiotics or blood pressure tablets, and it carries the same requirement: a qualified prescriber must assess the individual patient face to face before it can be prescribed for them.
This is not a formality we have invented. It is the reason your first appointment with us for this treatment is a consultation, not a treatment.
What a prescriber is actually checking
The assessment is not a box-ticking exercise. Your prescriber is looking at your medical history for the conditions that make treatment unsafe — certain neuromuscular disorders, pregnancy and breastfeeding, particular medications. They are examining your facial anatomy and muscle movement, because the dose and the injection points are decided by how your face actually moves, not by a standard template. And they are having an honest conversation about what the treatment will and will not do for you.
The remote prescribing problem
For years, some clinics worked around the face-to-face requirement by having a prescriber sign off treatments remotely, over the phone or by video, often for patients they never met. The General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the General Pharmaceutical Council have all since made their position unambiguous: remote prescribing of injectable cosmetic medicines is not acceptable practice.
If a clinic offers to treat you with botulinum toxin on your first visit, with no prior consultation with a prescriber, something has been skipped.
What this means when you book with us
For prescription-only treatments, you will book a Medical Aesthetic Consultation first. It takes thirty minutes, costs £50, and that fee is redeemed in full against your treatment. Your treatment appointment is booked separately, afterwards.
The gap between the two appointments is deliberate, and it gives you a cooling-off period. A surprising number of patients use it to change their mind about what they want — and occasionally to decide they do not want anything at all. Both are entirely fine.