When you submit an online consultation to NewGen Pharmacy, it does not go to a computer that decides whether you can have treatment. It goes to a UK-registered clinician who reads it and makes a clinical decision about you.
That distinction matters more than anything else on this page. NewGen Pharmacy is a GPhC-registered pharmacy operating from St Mary’s Medical Centre, Unit 4, 245 High Street, Stratford, London, E15 2LS, under GPhC registration number 9012028. Every consultation submitted through the website is reviewed against that registration, by a person who is accountable for the decision.
Most importantly, the answer you receive is not always “yes”. A prescriber may approve a treatment, come back with a question, or decline to prescribe because it would not be safe for you. A yes, a question and a no are all normal results, and each one means a clinician has genuinely looked at your case.
This article explains what happens between the moment you press submit and the moment a decision reaches your inbox: who reads your answers, what they are checking, how long it takes, what happens to your data, and what each outcome means for you. Whether this is your first online consultation or your fifth, the same process applies every time.
Patients who want to see the process for themselves can read how NewGen consultations work, browse the full treatment list, read about the clinicians behind the service, or use the contact page with a question before starting.
In this article
- Why an online consultation exists at all
- Step one: choosing a condition, not a medicine
- Step two: the questionnaire, and what Elena actually does
- Who reads your answers
- What a prescriber is actually checking
- The three possible outcomes
- How long a review takes
- What happens to your answers
- What to include so your consultation is not delayed
- When you should go to a GP or call NHS 111 instead
- The pharmacy behind the website
Why an online consultation exists at all
Prescription-only medicines are prescription-only for a reason. Before one can be supplied lawfully, someone qualified has to decide that it is suitable for the specific person asking for it.
In a pharmacy or a GP surgery, that conversation happens face to face. An online consultation is the same conversation captured in writing, so a prescriber has what they need without you having to travel or wait for an appointment.
Because the questions are written down, they are also consistent. Everyone asking about the same condition is asked the same safety questions, in the same order, with no detail lost because an appointment ran short.
The written format only works if the answers are complete and honest. That is the one part of the process only you control, and it is covered further down this page.
Step one: choosing a condition, not a medicine
NewGen Pharmacy organises its service around conditions rather than products. The website groups its treatments into six care categories: General Health, Women’s Health, Sexual Health, Men’s Health, Travel Medicine, and Skin & Nails.
You start by choosing the condition that brought you to the site. At that point you see what the condition is and how it is usually managed, but not a menu of medicine names to pick from. Your online consultation begins with the condition, not with a medicine cabinet.
This is deliberate. Choosing your own prescription medicine from a list is not how safe prescribing works, and a regulated pharmacy is not permitted to present prescription-only medicines to the public that way.
The specific medicine, strength and dose are decided inside the online consultation itself, after a prescriber has assessed you. Whether you are looking at contraception, a skin condition or hay fever, the pattern is the same.
Step two: the questionnaire, and what Elena actually does
The consultation is a structured set of medical questions. Elena, NewGen’s online assistant, guides you through them, keeps the order sensible and makes sure nothing required is left blank.
Elena is a navigation tool. She does not diagnose you, does not decide whether you can have treatment and does not prescribe. Her job is to help you produce a complete, readable set of answers for the clinician who will review your online consultation.
The questions usually cover your symptoms and how long you have had them, relevant medical history, medicines you already take, allergies, and the specific safety factors that matter for your chosen condition. NewGen describes the questionnaire as taking under five minutes.
Some journeys include an age confirmation, because certain treatments are only appropriate for adults. Some ask for a photograph. Some ask for a recent measurement, such as a blood pressure reading, where the guidance for that treatment requires one. No two online consultations look identical, because each one is shaped by the condition and the safety questions it needs.
Who reads your answers
Every online consultation is reviewed by UK-registered clinicians. Two are named publicly, with the registration numbers that let you check them yourself.
Dr Naeem Aslam is a medical doctor registered with the General Medical Council under GMC number 6121335.
Nadia Zolfaghary is the Superintendent Pharmacist, registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council under GPhC number 2081303. The superintendent pharmacist is the person legally responsible for the professional and regulatory standards of every service the pharmacy provides.
You are not expected to take that on trust. You can look up the pharmacy on the GPhC register of pharmacies, and any doctor on the GMC medical register, to confirm the registration is current. Being able to check is the point of publishing the numbers at all, and it is a large part of why an online consultation can be trusted in the first place.
What a prescriber is actually checking
A prescriber reviewing your online consultation is not looking for a reason to say yes. They are working through a short list of clinical questions before they can say anything at all.
First, is the condition you describe one that can be safely managed this way, or does it need examination, testing or urgent assessment in person? Second, is the treatment route suitable for you specifically, given your history, your other medicines and your allergies?
Third, are there interactions or contraindications, meaning situations where something that suits most people would not suit you? Fourth, is there anything in your answers that looks like a warning sign rather than the condition you think you have?
Only then comes the question most patients think of as “the prescription”: which option, at what strength, for how long. It is the last of the five, not the first. Every online consultation works through the same order, because safety questions come before the medicine question, not after it.
The three possible outcomes
There are three ways an online consultation can end, and it is worth knowing all three before you start.
Approved. The prescriber is satisfied that treatment is appropriate. Your medicine is dispensed from the registered Stratford pharmacy and sent out in plain, unbranded packaging, or held for collection if you prefer.
More information needed. Something was unclear, incomplete, or raised a question the prescriber needs settled first. You will be asked for the missing detail. This is not a rejection, and it is usually the fastest route to a decision.
Declined. The prescriber has concluded that the treatment would not be safe or clinically appropriate for you. NewGen Pharmacy states that where a consultation is declined on clinical grounds, a full refund is issued automatically, with a clear explanation, and patients may be directed to their GP or NHS 111.
A decline is a clinical judgement about one treatment for one person at one time. It is not a judgement about you, and it does not stop you seeking care elsewhere, or starting a new online consultation once anything that led to the decline has changed.
How long a review takes
NewGen states that in most cases consultations are reviewed promptly during working hours, and that you are told the decision clearly and promptly. You are notified by email, so there is no need to sit and refresh a page.
If the prescriber has come back with a question, answering quickly is the single biggest thing that shortens the wait on your online consultation.
An online consultation is not an emergency service and should never be used as one. Reviews happen during working hours, which means an overnight or weekend submission may wait. If something cannot wait, it should not be going into a form at all.
What happens to your answers
Online consultation answers are health data and are treated accordingly. NewGen Pharmacy states that consultation information is encrypted and stored securely in the UK, and the pharmacy is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Your answers exist so a clinician can make a safe decision, and so there is a record of why that decision was made. That record matters if you come back later, if a dose needs changing, or if something needs reviewing, and it means a future online consultation can build on what is already known rather than starting from nothing.
Anyone who wants the full detail of what is collected, how long it is kept and what rights they have over it should read the privacy policy rather than rely on a summary.
What to include so your consultation is not delayed
The quality of your answers decides how quickly an online consultation is resolved, and sometimes whether it can be resolved at all. NewGen also publishes a general guide to what to expect from your first online consultation; the points below are the ones that most often hold a decision up.
Be specific about time. “About three weeks, worse in the last four days” tells a prescriber far more than “a while”.
List everything you take, including things that do not feel like medicines: supplements, herbal remedies, inhalers, anything bought over the counter and anything prescribed by someone else. Interactions are one of the most common reasons a consultation is paused. St John’s wort is the classic example, because it interacts with a surprising number of treatments.
Do not leave out a condition because it seems unrelated. Migraine, blood pressure, clotting history, liver or kidney problems and mental health conditions all change what is safe to prescribe, often in ways that are not obvious to a patient.
Answer honestly about the awkward things, including smoking, alcohol and weight. A prescriber is not there to judge; they are there to make a safe decision, and they can only do that with accurate information. An online consultation is only as useful as the answers inside it.
When you should go to a GP or call NHS 111 instead
A responsible online service should be as clear about what it cannot do as what it can. Some situations need someone to look at you, listen to you, or run a test.
Call 999 or go to an emergency department for chest pain, difficulty breathing, swelling of the face, lips or throat, confusion, weakness or drooping on one side, a severe headache unlike any you have had before, or a severe allergic reaction. Rapidly spreading redness or a rash with fever also needs urgent assessment — the NHS guidance on spotting sepsis sets out what to look for. Do not wait to see whether a rash appears or worsens before seeking help.
Conditions needing physical examination, imaging, blood tests or a biopsy cannot be settled by questionnaire. Suspected skin cancer, changing or bleeding moles, and anything requiring a specimen are examples where referral is the right answer, not a prescription.
A prescriber declining to treat and telling you where to go instead is one of the most useful outcomes an online consultation produces, even though it is the one nobody hopes for.
The pharmacy behind the website
NewGen Pharmacy is not a website with a dispensary somewhere else. It operates from a registered pharmacy premises in Stratford, London, owned by New International Medical Ltd, company number 07980522.
The same organisation that takes your online consultation also dispenses your medicine, and the same superintendent pharmacist is accountable for both. NewGen describes itself as a distance-selling pharmacy, which means services are provided at a distance rather than over a counter, with NHS Pharmacy First services accessed by phone where available.
Approved treatments are dispatched in plain, unbranded packaging, and collection from the Stratford premises is available as an alternative to delivery.
If you know which condition you want assessed, the next step is to start your consultation. Your online consultation goes straight to a prescriber, who will take it from there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my consultation reviewed by a real person or by software?
By a real person. Elena, the online assistant, guides you through the questions, but a UK-registered prescriber reviews the answers and makes the clinical decision on every online consultation.
Who reviews consultations at NewGen Pharmacy?
UK-registered clinicians. Dr Naeem Aslam (GMC 6121335) and Nadia Zolfaghary, Superintendent Pharmacist (GPhC 2081303), are named on the pharmacy’s website with registration numbers you can check on the public registers.
How long does a consultation review take?
NewGen states that in most cases consultations are reviewed promptly during working hours, and that you are notified of the decision by email. Some services publish their own turnaround times on the relevant treatment page.
Why can I not see the medicine names before I start?
Because the medicine is chosen by the prescriber after assessing you, and because a regulated pharmacy is not permitted to promote prescription-only medicines to the public by name. Condition information is public; the specific treatment is discussed inside the consultation.
What happens if my consultation is declined?
NewGen Pharmacy states that a consultation declined on clinical grounds receives a full refund automatically, with a clear explanation, and that patients may be directed to their GP or NHS 111 instead.
What if the prescriber asks me for more information?
Answer as soon as you can. A request for more detail is not a rejection; it usually means the prescriber is one answer away from a safe decision on your online consultation.
Is my consultation information kept private?
NewGen Pharmacy states that consultation answers are encrypted and stored securely in the UK, and the pharmacy is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office. Full detail is in the privacy policy.
Can I use an online consultation in an emergency?
No. Consultations are reviewed during working hours and this is not an emergency service. For severe, unusual or rapidly worsening symptoms, use NHS 111 online or call 999.
Do I need to be over 18?
Some treatments are restricted to adults and those online consultations include an age confirmation. The requirement depends on the treatment.
Can I collect from the pharmacy instead of having delivery?
Yes. Approved treatments are dispensed from the registered Stratford pharmacy and can be sent in plain, unbranded packaging or collected in person.
Compliance note
This article describes the online consultation process, service information and registration details published on the NewGen Pharmacy website at the time of writing. Services, review times, eligibility criteria, consultation routes and delivery options may change.
Nothing here is a diagnosis, a treatment recommendation, or a promise that any treatment will be supplied. Treatment is never automatic. It depends on clinician assessment, patient suitability, availability, and whether the option is safe, lawful and clinically appropriate. The final prescribing decision always rests with the clinician. If symptoms are severe, unusual, worsening or urgent, seek help from a GP, NHS 111, urgent care or emergency services, and call 999 for anything life-threatening. Suspected side effects from any medicine can be reported to the MHRA through the Yellow Card scheme.
Author & Content Writer: Dr. Naeem Aslam