Terms and Conditions
Welcome to the eMed terms and conditions.
Table of contents
- 1. What these terms and conditions cover
- 2. Contacts
- 3. What we mean by our services
- 4. Important information about our digital healthcare services
- 5. What we need from you
- 6. Our clinical services
- 7. Your prescriptions and medicines
- 8. What we need if you use our clinical services
- 9. Prices and how to pay
- 10. Cancelling your subscription
- 11. What you can't do with our services
- 12. Children and young people
- 13. If something goes wrong
- 14. How to make a complaint
- 15. Changes to these terms
- 16. Other things you should know
- 17. GP at Hand terms and conditions
1. What these terms and conditions cover
These terms and conditions contain essential legal information that tells you things like:
- the terms for using our services;
- what we need from you to provide our services; and
- what to do if something goes wrong.
These terms and conditions are an agreement between you and us (eMed/we/us). This is so you know the rules and your rights when you use our UK app, UK websites (https://www.eMed.com/uk and www.gpathand.nhs.uk) and services provided by eMed from the UK. Separate terms and conditions apply to our non-UK apps, non-UK websites and services provided by eMed from outside the UK.
By using our services you agree to these terms and conditions. If you don't follow these terms and conditions, we might need to cancel or suspend your account.
You should also read these terms and conditions along with:
- Our privacy policy
- Our cookie policy
- Our GP at Hand terms and conditions if you're an NHS patient
You might also be able to find a quick answer to your question in our FAQs.
2. Contacts
How to contact us
You can contact us using the details on our Contact Us page or, for GP at Hand patients, our GP at Hand Contact Us page.
How we contact you
We will contact you in English through the app, by email or by phone. Please contact our support team if you need a translator or interpreter.
We might also send you notifications in the app when we need to tell you something important.
3. What we mean by our services
Our services fall into 3 categories:
(a) Clinical services
Our video and audio consultations, where you can talk with one of our medical professionals. This includes people like doctors, advanced nurse practitioners, phlebotomists (people qualified to draw blood), physiotherapists, pharmacists, and mental health therapists. Throughout these terms and conditions, we've called them practitioners.
These practitioners might give you a diagnosis, recommendation, or treatment. They may also prescribe to you, or refer you to someone else.
(b) Programmes
Our services include programmes delivered to you for particular matters.
This includes our weight management programme which is a structured programme that guides you on your weight management journey through the use of medications including Wegovy® (semaglutide) where appropriate, weekly virtual check-ins, clinical support and support materials and guidance regarding lifestyle.
(c) Digital healthcare services
Services that give you health and lifestyle information through our apps or websites.
Our digital healthcare services are for information only. They are not designed to diagnose or provide medical advice or treatment. They should never be used as a replacement for a qualified medical professional.
Symptom checker
A chat-based tool where you can enter symptoms and get general information on possible next steps.
My Health
A health self-management tool that enables you to view and track your health data and receive general lifestyle advice based on the data entered. MyHealth enables you to track your health by manually inputting data or syncing your apps and devices.
Our services
You can access our services in different ways.
- our eMed private service, which is available if you're an annual subscriber, as a pay as you go user or if you are enrolled on one of our programmes If your employer offers access to our services as a benefit, you may use eMed through a third party we have partnered with (for example, a hospital trust or health insurer); and/or
- our digital-first NHS primary care service, GP at Hand, which is available to patients who register with GP at Hand as their NHS GP practice.
4. Important information about our digital healthcare services
Our digital healthcare services are for information only. They are not designed to diagnose you or provide you with medical advice or treatment. They should never be used as a replacement for a qualified medical professional.
They are there to give you information relating to your general wellness or health, and to let you know about general causes, risks and/or possible next steps. They're not designed to be used instead of a healthcare professional.
Don't use any of these digital healthcare services in an emergency. Instead, call 999 or the emergency services immediately.
You should always talk to a qualified healthcare professional if you have questions about your health or a medical condition. And before you make any decisions about your health.
Depending on how you access them, you might not be able to get our full list of services.
We'll let you know about restrictions on the intended use of our services in these terms and conditions or on our app or websites, but additional rules or restrictions may apply from time to time.
5. What we need from you
We need to receive some personal information from or about you (such as your name, contact details and information about your health) so that we can give you the best version of our services. To find out more about how we use this information and how we protect your privacy, see our privacy policy.
The information you give us, whether through our clinical services or our digital health services, must be accurate and in English. We need you to let us know if any of the information we hold about you is wrong or out of date. Please contact our support team if you need a translator or interpreter.
You must not create duplicate accounts or register more than once to use our services. This ensures that we can keep an accurate record of your use of our services and any advice our practitioners have given you.
When booking an appointment, you may choose to upload a photo if there's something you want to show your practitioner. Do not upload any photos of an intimate area of any adult's or child's body (such as genitals, anus, bottom or breasts). Do your best to describe the issue in writing. You can then discuss it with your practitioner in more detail during your consultation.
6. Our clinical services
Our practitioners are based in the UK. They're members of the appropriate regulatory body (for example, our doctors are members of the General Medical Council). They're committed to clinical best practice and any related standards.
Our practitioners might have different opinions on some medical conditions or symptoms. This doesn't mean that our clinical services are at fault; it's normal for experts to have different views from time to time.
There are some medical conditions that we won't be able to help you with in a video or phone consultation. We may also decide that we are not able to help you via video or phone if your medical history is too complex for remote assessment and management. If you're in doubt, check our FAQs to help you work out what to do.
Your consultation
We'll try to offer you a range of options for the time and date of your consultation, but we can't promise to offer consultations in a specific timeframe, or that a specific practitioner will be available at a particular time.
Make sure that you are in a suitable place when attending your consultation. More guidance on this is available in our FAQs. If you are not in a suitable place, the practitioner may ask you to move, or end your consultation and ask you to book another appointment.
We record the audio of all consultations to make sure we're giving you the best service we can. To find out more about how we use this information and how we protect your privacy, see our privacy policy.
If you don't think you've been able to clearly share your medical needs during a consultation, you should speak to a practitioner in person. If you're worried about any advice you've received, then you should book another appointment to discuss this.
If you're using our private service
(That's if you're an annual subscriber or a pay-as-you-go user, if your employer offers the eMed app as a benefit or if you use the eMed app to access our clinical services through a third party we have partnered with (for example, a hospital trust or health insurer.)
Consultations with our practitioners shouldn't replace consultations with your regular NHS GP. Before your consultation, we will ask you through the app whether you give us consent to share the summaries of your consultations with your regular NHS GP. If you do, you will be asked to provide your NHS GP's details. If you decide not to, your practitioner will confirm your decision with you during your consultation. If you change your mind, you can inform your practitioner during your consultation or contact our support team as soon as possible afterwards. In certain circumstances, your practitioner may be unable to assist you if you do not consent to us sharing information with your NHS GP.
You should talk to your regular GP about any information you get from us.
You should contact emergency services or arrange follow-on care if one of our practitioners recommends it.
Your location
You must let your practitioner know at the start of your consultation if you are not located in the UK.
We are not able to offer consultations if you are located in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany or China at the time of your consultation. We may also choose not to continue with your consultation in any other part of the world outside the UK if we do not think that it is lawful or appropriate for us to do so. If you are a GP at Hand patient, the NHS is not responsible for your medical care outside the UK. You should check your medical care entitlements and options before you travel outside the UK.
7. Your prescriptions and medicines
In the UK, we're able to prescribe medicines without face-to-face meetings.
Our practitioners follow national evidence-based guidance, such as the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). They meet Care Quality Commission (CQC) standards.
Read more on the National Institute of Clinical Excellence website.
And also on the Care Quality Commission website.
For our private service, we can't prescribe controlled drugs and have strict limits on high-risk medicines. Also, we can’t issue repeat prescriptions for the majority of medications. Repeat prescriptions can usually only be obtained through your regular NHS GP.
In the UK, we partner with pharmacies that provide your medicine. These aren't part of eMed and we don’t take responsibility for their acts or mistakes.
We may refuse to prescribe to you if we think it's not medically safe or legal to do so. We are not able to issue prescriptions to you if you are located outside of the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA). Please also bear in mind that if you are in the EEA, prescriptions issued by us may not be accepted by your local pharmacy.
Prescription charges
If you're using eMed privately, you need to pay the relevant pharmacy for your prescriptions. Prescription charges aren't covered by any payments you make to eMed to use our services. The price is set by the pharmacy and eMed is not responsible for the collection or payment of any prescription charges. You don't have to use any particular pharmacy.
Different charges apply to NHS prescriptions. Find out more about GP at Hand prescriptions in Section 17 below.
Collection and delivery of prescriptions
If you're in the UK, you can choose to have your medicine delivered to your home, or you can pick it up from a pharmacy near you.
We can't accept returns or give refunds on medicines.
By choosing home delivery, you agree to the terms and conditions of our relevant partner pharmacy.
FAQs: prescription delivery services
8. What we need if you use our clinical services
You must:
- follow any instructions our practitioners give to you;
- follow any instructions we give to you about how to use medicines or healthcare products we recommend or prescribe. This includes use-by dates;
- if required on one of our programmes, follow the instructions and attend check-in appointments as determined by the programme;
- keep any medicines we prescribe secure and don't allow anyone other than the patient named on the prescription to use them;
- only use our services for you, unless you're seeking advice for a child of whom you’re the parent or legal guardian and who is registered to your account;
- tell a practitioner or your GP if you have any bad or unexpected effects from anything we've recommended to you. Don't report these in the app; and
- contact emergency services if you think it's necessary.
Before you book your first digital appointment, you must follow the in-app instructions to verify your identity. If you do not verify your identity, then your appointment may not go ahead and the cost of the appointment will not be refunded to you.
We're here to help, but if we think that you're using our clinical services too much, we'll let you know. In some cases, we may need to suspend or terminate your access in line with Section 10 below.
We don't tolerate any abusive, aggressive or offensive behaviour directed towards any eMed employees or practitioners. If we think that this is happening, then we may end your consultation, suspend or cancel your account and subscription and/or take any other appropriate action (including, if applicable, reporting the incident to the police). If you try to register (or re-register) for either our private service or our GP at Hand service after your account has been suspended or cancelled, we reserve the right to remove you from the service (without a refund) and prevent you from creating a new account.
9. Prices and how to pay
Some of our services are free and available to all users. To access other services, we may charge a fee, ask you to register, verify your identity or require you to live within the catchment area of one of our clinics.
Here's an overview:
- our GP at Hand service is free for registered patients;
- you have to pay for our private service either through a subscription or paying-as-you-go (but not our digital healthcare services, such as Symptom Checker or My Health);
- all prices exclude VAT, where this applies.
Paying for our private pay-as-you-go service
You have the option to pay-as-you-go for our private services and you will be charged when you book your appointment. The prices for our services are set when you register via our app or on our website. Our prices may change at any time, but this will not affect the price of anything you have already ordered or booked. For further information regarding our pricing, please see our pricing list.
For information regarding cancellation and refunding your pay-as-you-go appointment, please refer to section 10.
Paying for our private service by subscription
For those who choose to subscribe to our private service, we now only offer annual subscriptions. If you subscribed earlier, you may still have a historic monthly or quarterly plan.
You need to pay all charges in advance. We may stop providing our services to you if you don't pay on time.
We automatically renew all subscriptions and take payment at the end of your existing subscription. That's unless you cancel it at least 72 hours before the end of your subscription period. If your renewal payment fails (for example, because your card has expired or been cancelled), your subscription will not be renewed. Our subscription services will no longer be available to you, unless you set up a new subscription using a new payment method. The price you pay for your new subscription will be our most recent price at the time your new payment method becomes active.
We'll let you know if our subscription prices change.
Paying for your participation in one of our programmes
Weight management programme (“WMP”)
You need to pay all fees in relation to your participation in our WMP periodically in advance as notified to you at checkout. This is so that we can issue any medication required through our partner pharmacies. We may stop or pause our services to you if you do not pay on time.
How much will it cost?
Pricing depends on various factors, such as the level and amount of medication you are prescribed. The price you are quoted at checkout is what you will pay periodically. For information as to what is included each month, please refer to our FAQs.
Please be aware that eMed retains the right to modify the price in response to changes in the cost price of the medication provided as part of the WMP. This includes instances where a clinical assessment indicates the necessity for a higher dosage incurring additional costs. Where we need to alter our pricing in response to changes in the cost of medication, this will be discussed with you in advance.
We may offer the option to pay for several months upfront, possibly at a discounted rate. eMed reserves the right to revoke discounts at any time for any reason, provided that the discount has not already been applied and successfully paid for.
What happens if you are not deemed eligible?
We require your payment details upfront when you first register your intention to enrol on the WMP. We may charge your card immediately, or put a hold on your account (we'll let you know which). If not deemed eligible during the initial assessment, we will give instructions to our payment provider to give you a full refund or release any hold within 3 working days. This may take a few days longer to reach you depending on your bank’s administrative processes.
Please see section 10 below for our cancellation and refund policy.
What does "periodically" mean?
eMed usually charges for each prescription and each prescription is usually for a 28 day period. If the charge is not on a 28 day basis you will be notified of such at checkout.
10. Cancelling your subscription
We work hard to give you the best standard of clinical services. But if there's something you're not happy with, you can contact us to talk. Or you can cancel your subscription at any time by letting us know using the details on our Contact Us page.
The amount we will refund to you (if any) will depend on:
- when you cancel;
- your reason for cancellation;
- how you have used the services before you cancel;and
- any other relevant factors when assessing your request.
We may end our agreement with you (including cancelling your account and subscription without a refund) if:
- we're unable to provide our services for reasons outside our control;
- you break these terms or the law relating to our services;
- you've put us in a position where we might break the law;
- you don't pay us on time; and
- you've been abusive, aggressive or offensive to anyone at eMed.
Get more information on your rights when you cancel.
Cancelling your subscription to our private services or a pay-as-you-go appointment
If you cancel a digital pay-as-you-go consultation less than 12 hours before it starts, we will not refund you.
If you cancel a face-to-face consultation less than 24 hours before it starts, we will not refund you.
If you cancel within 14 days of purchasing a subscription and have not used the app for any consultations, we'll refund you in full. If you have used the app for consultations during this 14 day period, we'll reduce the amount of your refund (or take further payment from you) to recover the cost of any consultations, based on our pay as you go rates.
See the consultation pay as you go rates.
If you cancel your subscription after 14 days, the cancellation will take effect immediately. You’ll no longer have access to the subscription services and won’t be refunded the amount you’ve already paid, other than in the circumstances below. We won't take any further payment.
If you cancel because:
- our services are unavailable for 2 weeks or more
- you don't agree with a change we made to these terms (including changes to our pricing); or
- we haven't fixed or arranged a replacement service that we agreed to;
then we'll give you a refund that directly reflects the amount of time left in your subscription at the date you cancel.
Cancelling your participation on our Weight Management Programme
You are entitled to cancel your participation in the WMP by giving 14 days or more notice to our support team before the payment is due. If notice is not provided within 14 days or more, you will be charged for that month and your participation and payment will be cancelled for the subsequent month. You will not be entitled to a refund in the event that services have already been delivered or medication has been issued and or dispensed. This will not affect your rights to request a refund based on the bullet points details at the top of this section 10.
11. What you can't do with our services
When using our services, you must not use them:
- for commercial purposes, like using them on your own website for profit;
- for any improper, illegitimate or unlawful purpose, like interfering with or reverse engineering our app or website;
- in any way that could damage, disable or impair the operation or security of our services, like installing any virus, malware or harmful material, or making use of our services other than for the intended purpose;
- in any way that we reasonably consider to be excessive and/or outside the scope of normal patient use, taking into account average UK general practice use and our own policies (as summarised in our FAQs); and
- to gain access (or try to gain access) to any user accounts, data (including patient data) or computer systems or networks, through any method.
If you do, we may suspend your access to our services or cancel your account and subscription and you will not be refunded for any subscription fees, per-appointment fees, programme fees or other fees you have paid.
We use anti-virus measures on our websites and app. But we can't promise that our services will always be virus-free.
FAQs: technical requirements to use our app
FAQs: Does my subscription cover everything?
12. Children and young people
Make sure that you supervise your children when they use our clinical services. Some of our digital healthcare services are age-restricted or have age-specific features, which we’ll let you know about in the app.
You can add children under 16 to your account as long as you are their parent or legal guardian.
You should either use the services on their behalf (for example, if using a digital healthcare service that is age-restricted) or supervise their use of the services at all times.
If you're between 16 and 18 you can use our services by opening your own account with us if your parent or legal guardian has agreed to pay any charges with their payment card.
For eMed GP at Hand users, find out more about children and GP at Hand in Section 17 below.
Please note, our weight management programme is not available for anyone under the age of 18.
13. If something goes wrong
Please contact us if something goes wrong. We'll do our best to fix the problem.
We provide our services as they're described and we don't make any other guarantees.
If we break these terms we will only be responsible for any losses that could have been foreseen when we entered into the terms.
Some of the things we can't be held responsible for include:
- loss or damage as a result of not following the instructions for using our services or using any of our services for anything other than their intended use;
- business losses to you (our services are for personal use only);
- any loss or damage as a result of your own breach of these terms or our privacy policy; and
- loss or damage from using other websites we link to from our app or website, including any retail partners we might work with or invite you to access. eMed doesn't recommend or endorse any websites or products that we link to. You must make your own decision about whether you want to access or use these.
Unless the law says otherwise, we will not award compensation for any amount higher than what you have paid us.
As far as we can under the law, eMed doesn't accept any other terms or rules (direct or indirect) that are outside of these terms.
If you cannot access our services
There might be times outside our control when we can't provide our services.
We're not responsible if this happens, but if it does, we'll do anything we reasonably can to make sure you can use our services again as soon as possible.
14. How to make a complaint
If you have a complaint, please contact us and we'll do our best to fix the problem. We reply to all complaints in line with the rules and regulations that apply to our services.
There are different contact details and procedures, depending on the problem or service you're using:
- How to make a complaint about GP at Hand
- How to make a complaint about eMed private services or programmes
- How to make a complaint about our Symptom Checker service
15. Changes to these terms
These terms are always available in our app and on our website. We change these terms from time to time. We may not always tell you when we make a change.
If we make any changes that affect your rights or what we need from you, then we'll let you know.
If you don't agree with the changes, you can cancel your subscription with us.
If you continue to use our services, we will assume that you're happy with any new terms.
16. Other things you should know
Laws and regulations
The Care Quality Commission regulates our clinical services, such as video and audio consultations.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency regulates our 'medical devices'. This includes Symptom Checker.
Our services follow UK laws and regulations. Some countries have different laws and regulations for healthcare services.
If you're outside the UK, you are responsible for checking if it's legal to use our services in your location. We can't guarantee that our provision of the services outside the UK, or your use of the services outside the UK, will comply with the laws of the country where you are located.
Enforcement
These terms are an agreement between you and us (eMed). They do not apply to other people. Only you can take legal action on your agreement with us, unless you are a parent or guardian acting on behalf of your child.
Legal decisions and judgements
These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. If you want to take legal action relating to these terms, it must be through the courts of England and Wales.
Our companies
We have a few different eMed companies (known as our 'legal entities'). These terms and conditions are an agreement between you and the following companies.
Our clinical services are provided by:
Babylon Healthcare Services Limited
184 - 192 Drummond Street
London
NW1 3HP
Company number: 09229684
Our digital healthcare services are provided by:
eMed Healthcare UK, Limited
184 - 192 Drummond Street
London
NW1 3HP
Company number: 15086104
GP at Hand services are provided by:
GP at Hand
139 Lillie Road
London
SW6 7SX
17. GP at Hand terms and conditions
Hello.
Welcome to our GP at Hand terms and conditions. Our general terms and conditions (in Sections 1 to 16 above) also apply to GP at Hand.
If there's any difference between the two, then these GP at Hand terms and conditions apply.
About GP at Hand
GP at Hand is the name of the digital-first service we provide for the NHS.
It provides 'primary care services' to registered patients, normally by video or phone call first. 'Primary care' are the services a person normally uses first when they first have a health issue. This could be a consultation with a GP or practice nurse, or a pharmacist.
Once you're registered, you can use GP at Hand as your NHS general practice. You get digital consultations first, but you can also book face-to-face consultations at one of our clinics if you need one.
The location of your face-to-face consultations depends on practitioner availability. We can't guarantee that consultations will take place at your preferred or closest clinic, or at the same clinic as your previous consultations. You may need to travel to any of our clinic locations for your consultations.
See our clinic locations.
You can get GP at Hand through the eMed app or through the GP at Hand website.
Services free at the point of need
If you meet the NHS eligibility criteria, then GP at Hand is free to use.
GP at Hand patients should know that not all features of the app are available on the NHS. If any features are not free of charge, we will make this clear to you in the app.
Opening hours
GP at Hand provides a 24/7 digital service to our patients.
This is in addition to the hours we provide under our contract with NHS England (which are 8am-6.30pm, Monday to Friday).
Children
You can register children under 16 for GP at Hand under your own account, where you are their parent or guardian.
You should supervise your child at consultations. This is unless a practitioner thinks an unsupervised consultation is appropriate.
Any unsupervised consultation with an under-16 will be held in line with safeguarding legislation and guidance.
Prescriptions
The prescriptions you get from GP at Hand will generally be NHS prescriptions.
This means you need to pay the standard NHS prescription charge unless you're eligible for free prescriptions.
You can order repeat prescriptions in the app, if your practitioner approves.
Prescriptions will automatically be sent to your nominated pharmacy, unless you request otherwise during your consultation. When using our repeat prescription re-ordering service, you will be required to confirm that your nominated pharmacy is correct. You'll be given the option to change your nominated pharmacy if needed.
GP at Hand prescriptions can only be issued if you are located in England during your consultation.
Tests
If you're using GP at Hand, you should discuss any tests you might need with one of our practitioners.
You may be able to get them through the NHS in the usual way, so you wouldn't have to pay for them.
FAQ: Medical tests and results
Cancelling your GP at Hand registration
You can deregister from GP at Hand and sign up with a new NHS general practice at any time.
You don't need to contact us, registering with a new practice will automatically deregister you.
How to make a complaint
We always do our best but we realise that sometimes things go wrong. If you have a complaint, please contact us and we'll do our best to fix the problem.
We reply to all complaints in line with the rules and regulations that apply to our services.