What Is a Patient Group Direction (PGD)?

A Patient Group Direction is a written instruction that allows specified healthcare professionals — including pharmacists — to supply or administer a medicine to patients who meet certain criteria, without needing an individual prescription from a doctor.

PGDs have been part of UK healthcare since 2000. They exist because the traditional model — patient sees GP, GP writes prescription, patient collects from pharmacy — is too slow for many routine clinical needs. Travel vaccinations, emergency contraception, UTI treatment, and dozens of other services can be safely and efficiently provided directly by a pharmacist under a PGD.

The legal framework sits under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (as amended). A PGD must be authorised by a designated body — typically an NHS organisation or a private healthcare provider registered with the CQC — and signed off by a doctor and a pharmacist.

For pharmacists, PGDs represent a significant commercial and clinical opportunity. They allow community pharmacy to move beyond dispensing into direct patient care, generating new revenue while reducing pressure on GP surgeries and A&E departments.

Every PGD has inclusion and exclusion criteria, clinical assessment steps, counselling requirements, and documentation standards. The pharmacist follows a structured protocol for each consultation, ensuring patient safety and creating an auditable record.

There are currently over 100 medicines that can be supplied under PGD in community pharmacy, covering travel health, vaccines, sexual health, weight management, skin conditions, respiratory conditions, and more. The number is growing as NICE and the MHRA approve new pathways.

To use a PGD, a pharmacist must be named on the direction, have completed the relevant training, and be assessed as competent by the authorising body. This is not a one-off process — ongoing CPD and periodic reassessment are standard requirements.

If you're a pharmacy owner or superintendent considering PGD services, the key question is not whether to offer them — it's which PGDs to prioritise and which provider gives you the best combination of clinical governance, training, technology, and value.