Have you ever been tempted to purchase your medications, whether they are prescription ones or over-the-counter versions, from an online chemist or pharmacy? If so, you’re not alone. More and more people are realising just how convenient buying online is, and although the first thing you might think of when it comes to online shopping is clothes and books and perhaps food, the truth is that you can buy almost anything, and in the 21st century that means medication too. Not only is this convenient, but it’s discreet too; you can order what you need without anyone else ever knowing what you’re getting.
However, it pays to be careful. Just as you would take care when buying a new t-shirt or the latest thriller, you need to make sure you’re buying from a legitimate online pharmacy so that you don’t get caught out and receive dangerous medication or have your money stolen and receive nothing at all. If you want to know how to buy medicines safely online, read on.
Prescriptions
One of the biggest signs that you might be choosing the wrong site to get your medication from is that they offer prescription drugs without the need to see an actual prescription. This is not safe in the least, and is actually illegal. If you buy prescription medication without a prescription given to you by a qualified healthcare professional, you run the risk of consuming the wrong products, taking too much, and/or becoming extremely unwell. Even if you don’t want to buy prescription drugs without a prescription, the fact that the website you’re thinking of using allows this to happen is a sign that you need to step away.
When you’re looking for an excellent online chemist, you’ll want one that only allows people with a valid prescription to obtain this kind of medication. It shows that the pharmacy is sticking to the rules and not putting anyone in harm’s way. It shows you can trust them, whether you have a prescription for something or you need an over-the-counter item.
CQC Rating
The CQC – the Care Quality Commission – is an important body in the UK that oversees health and adult social care as an independent regulator. In other words, the CQC ensures that all healthcare services (including pharmacies both online and offline) provide the right level of care. If they see something that needs to be improved, they will report on it. And they give out ratings to healthcare premises and pharmacies to show what level of compliance they are at.
When it comes to your online chemist, you’ll need to find one that displays its CQC rating on its website, and ideally, that rating should be ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. Anything less than this and the pharmacy really does need to improve and therefore isn’t the best place to buy anything.
If the online chemist you’re considering doesn’t have a CQC rating or has a low score, then it should be avoided. Look around, and you’ll soon see which are the ones to use and which are not.
Reviews
As a consumer, you’ve probably read many different reviews when you have been thinking of buying something online. If not, this is a practice you should start employing since reviews are the perfect example of something you can do to see whether an online chemist is a good, legitimate one or something else entirely.
Use a search engine to look for reviews relating to the specific pharmacy you think you might be happy to buy from. Don’t just rely on the reviews on the website itself, but instead look deeper for different reviews, perhaps those left on independent sites such as Trust Pilot. These are the reviews that really mean something. These are the reviews that are – for the most part – unbiased and genuine.
Remember, even the best website will have a handful of negative reviews – no one can satisfy everyone – and even the worst will have some positive reviews. What you should be looking for is what the majority of the reviews say. If most are positive, telling you that delivery times are quick and questions are answered professionally, for example, this points you in the direction of using that site. If most are negative and talk about an unprofessional manner or a lack of qualifications or low stock levels at all times, then you should continue your search and find a different online chemist to use.
Once you have found one and you’re happy with your choice, you can leave your own review to help others who are in your position in the future.