Well Online Doctor terms and conditions

This is not an emergency service and is not to be used if you are having a medical emergency.

The following terms apply to use of the Well Online Doctor Services from https://onlinedoctor.well.co.uk/. These are additional to and supplement our general website terms of use which also apply.

These terms and conditions may be amended at any time, and the terms and conditions that apply for whenever you use our services will be those on the website at the time you used our services.

The Online Doctor Service

The Well Online Doctor Services are provided by Expert Health Limited (we/us/our) trading as Well Online Doctor. By using our Services you are confirming that you have carefully read, understand and agree to be legally bound by these Terms and Conditions which cover all Services we provide.

Throughout these terms and conditions, Services provided via any channel, including but not limited to our Well Online Doctor website are referred to as “Online Doctor Services”, “our Services” or “the Services”.

You should call 999 IMMEDIATELY in a critical or life-threatening situation, such as if you or someone has:

• difficulty breathing;
• severe bleeding and it can't be stopped;
• severe chest pain;
• a severe allergic reaction;
• severe burns or scalds;
• loss of consciousness;
• major trauma such as the result of a serious road traffic accident, a stabbing, a shooting, a fall from height or a serious head injury; or
• acute confused states and fits which aren't stopping,
• or if you believe someone is having a heart attack or stroke;
• suicide attempt by taking something or self harming

These terms and conditions are legal binding and contain important information about your rights. You should print and keep a copy of them for your records.

Introduction and responsibilities

1. About us

Expert Health Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales under company number 04058287. Expert Health Limited is registered for VAT with number 436478467. 

Expert Health Limited’s registered office is at The Woods, Haywood Road, Warwick, CV34 5AH, United Kingdom and it also has a trading address at 50-54 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2AU

For healthcare regulatory purposes, the Online Doctor Service is overseen by our Registered Manager.

2. How to contact us

We can be contacted as follows:
By message: via your Patient Record
Phone: 020 3514 2205
Mail:
Expert Health Limited
50-54 Wigmore Street
London, 
W1U 2AU
United Kingdom 

3. Professional standards and qualifications

Online Doctor Services involve the provision of information, advice, testing and treatment for a range of medical conditions. To ensure quality care, our clinicians will also follow up with some patients. Services are provided by qualified doctors and independent prescribing pharmacists (collectively ‘clinicians’) who are registered with the General Medical Council or the General Pharmaceutical Council in the UK. We are registered with the Care Quality Commission, the English independent healthcare regulator, under registration number 1-101725251. This registration permits us to prescribe medicines and provide testing services without meeting patients face to face. Additionally, Expert Health Limited is registered with The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, the Northern Irish independent healthcare regulator, under registration number 11992. All of our clinicians comply with the requirements of their professional bodies, the standards set by the healthcare regulators we are registered with and, importantly, the General Medical Council guidelines on remote prescribing. 

4. Privacy

How we use any personal data that you give to us is set out in our Privacy Notice.

5. Use of the Online Doctor Services outside of the United Kingdom

Well Online Doctor Services make no claims or representations that any or all of the content on this website, or the Online Doctor Services may be lawfully viewed, downloaded or used outside the United Kingdom. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the content, this website and the Online Doctor Service are directed solely at users who access the Service from within the United Kingdom. If you choose to use the Service from outside of the United Kingdom you do so at your own risk and are responsible for compliance with the laws of your jurisdiction. We provide our services in accordance with UK laws and regulations and cannot guarantee that this will comply with the rules of the country where you are located. If you are not a UK resident, then you must be located in the UK at the time of your medical consultation.

6. Our commitment to you

6.1    Each of our clinicians commits to:

6.1.1    Professional responsibility
Take professional responsibility for each patient who uses the Online Doctor Service to the same extent as a doctor would have responsibility when meeting a patient face to face.

6.1.2    Compliance
Provide a professional and transparent service that complies with the General Medical Council and the General Pharmaceutical Council Guidelines on remote prescribing, the Fundamental Standards as interpreted by England's healthcare inspectorate, the Care Quality Commission, and Northern Irelands inspectorate, the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, and clinical best practice.

6.1.3    Provide identification
Volunteer their name and General Medical Council/General Pharmaceutical Council professional registration number when prescribing medicines and communicating with patients.

6.1.4    Prescribe in the best interest of the patient
Prescribe medicines only when, in their professional judgement, it is in the patient's best interests to receive the medicine prescribed and refuse to prescribe medicines when they believe it is not in the patient's best interests to receive medicines without the benefit of a face to face consultation.

6.2    There are certain medicines that will not be issued by clinicians in any circumstances, which include:

6.2.1    controlled medication, such as strong painkillers, anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics and

6.2.2    medication that requires specialist prescribing and monitoring; and

6.2.3    medication that needs to be administered by injection (other than those listed on our website).

7. Your commitments when using the Online Doctor Service

As the patient, you commit to:

7.1    Accurate information
Answer all questions truthfully and fully.

7.2    Personal registration
Not register more than once.

7.3    Registration for someone other than yourself
Not register or complete questionnaires on behalf of anyone other than yourself.

7.4    Comply with instructions
Read carefully, each message uploaded into your secure online patient record before taking any medicines that our clinicians have prescribed and comply with any instructions given for each medicine. If you are uncertain as to how to take any medicine that we have provided to you, you must contact us and you must not use the medicine until you have sufficient information from us and understand the correct instructions.

7.5    Decisions at Online Doctor Services
Accept the Online Doctor Service decision when our clinician determines that it is not in your best interests to receive any requested medicine without the benefit of a face-to-face consultation.

7.6    Abusive Behaviour
Treat our clinicians and staff with respect. We do not tolerate abusive behaviour. In the event of such behaviour, we are within our rights to deactivate your patient record. 

7.7    Notify your GP
With your consent and provided you send us in writing the name and contact information of your GP, we will always offer to inform your GP of any medicines that our clinicians prescribe. For select services we are obliged to notify your GP of the treatment we provide to you. However, we will always offer to notify your GP of any medicines that we have prescribed, but if you do not consent to us contacting your GP, it is your responsibility to notify your GP. If you decide not to notify your GP, it is important that you keep a record of any medicines that we have prescribed.

Please note that in emergency situations, we may need to contact a healthcare professional, social services or the emergency services without your consent, regardless of whether or not you have refused your consent for us to notify your GP. This includes, but is not limited to, situations where we may believe that you are, or someone else is:

7.7.1    at risk of neglect, sexual, physical or emotional abuse; 

7.7.2    a serious crime has occurred or may occur; 

7.7.3    we consider that someone may be at risk of significant harm or serious addiction as a result of the information we receive; 

7.7.4    if we have significant concerns about your health and/or wellbeing; or 

7.7.5    where this is otherwise required by law.

7.8    Protect medicines
Ensure that no-one other than yourself has access to any medicines that we make available to you.

7.9    Expiry date
Ensure that any medicines prescribed in advance of need are not used beyond their expiry date.

7.10    Notify side-effects
Inform us via your online patient record if you experience any side-effects from any medicines we make available to you or if you think that any medicine we made available to you has not been effective.

Ordering Medicines and Online Doctor Services

8. Information and advice

8.1    The information and advice provided by Online Doctor Service is based on the information you supply to us. It is your responsibility to ensure this. You accept that failure to provide information that is correct and complete (whether intentionally or not) will affect the information and advice we give to you and the medicines we supply to you and, as such, may have consequences for which we are not responsible.

8.2    We aim to respond to all requests for information and advice within two business days – business days being Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

8.3    Follow up:
8.3.1    Our clinical team may contact you to check how you are getting on after using the service.
8.3.2    One of our team may also contact you for feedback about your service experience to help us improve to ensure we meet your needs.

8.4    From time to time we use anonymised or pseudonymised information (this means it is impossible to identify individuals) to carry out an evaluation of our service, to report on and improve the standards of clinical care and service we provide, and to help inform good clinical practice.

9. Other services

9.1    Subscription plans
9.1.1    By signing up to one of our subscription plans, you agree to be charged the repeat payment of the specified amount from the payment card that you used when signing up to the Service. This is known as a Continuous Payment Authority. If your payment fails and you do not update your card details when prompted to do so, your plan will automatically terminate. 
9.1.2    You can cancel your plan at any time by contacting our Patient Advisory Team and you will not be charged a cancellation fee. However, if your treatment has already been sent out when you attempt to cancel, you will still be charged for that treatment. 
9.1.3    Our clinicians have the right to review your suitability for your subscription plan at any given time and can terminate your plan if they deem you unsuitable for the service. 
9.1.4    You must complete a clinical review either every six months or every year depending on the plan you have signed up for. If you do not complete the review before your next treatment is due, your plan will be automatically terminated and you will be notified of this.
9.2    All treatments issued under a subscription plan are delivered via the Royal Mail standard delivery service (unless otherwise specified in relation to the plan).

10. Pricing

All prices on our website are in pounds sterling and include VAT unless expressly stated otherwise. We take care to ensure that all pricing information on our website is accurate but occasionally there may be an error. If an error has occurred and the price charged is too high, we will identify all those that have overpaid and refund the difference.

11. Concluding a binding contract

When we receive an order from you to purchase goods or services from us, we will confirm that we have received the order by sending a confirmation email to the contact email address that you supplied. Your order is an offer to purchase an item and will not be binding on us until we either prescribe your medicine, or dispatch other goods, or otherwise commence a clinical service, whichever occurs first. Professional codes of conduct and legal restrictions may limit the number and frequency of any item we are permitted to supply to you and, as such, we have no obligation to supply quantities exceeding the relevant permitted maximum and will charge only for those we do supply. We reserve the right to reject any order.

12. Delivery costs

Patients can choose between next-day delivery charged at £4.95, or FREE Standard Delivery for test kits, goods or medicines that are sent in the post.

13. Payment and refunds

In providing payment card details, you confirm that you are authorised to use the card and authorise us, or our payment service provider, to take payment in full for the items in your order and any associated delivery fees and any other charges that become due to us under these terms and conditions. The transaction will appear on your bank or card statement as 'Well Online'.

Refunds, if applicable, will only be made using the payment gateway (e.g. Stripe) to the card originally used for payment. Refunds may take up to five working days to appear on a card statement.

All of our prescriptions are valid for six months from the prescription date. When you place an order for a medicine and nominate a pharmacy for collection, if our clinicians approve your order and prescribe, you must collect the medicine within six months. After this time, you will not be entitled to a refund.

If you choose to pay via PayPal, then your use of the PayPal service is governed by the PayPal user agreement in force from time to time. Please refer to the PayPal user agreement for details of the terms and conditions applicable to payments and refunds processed through PayPal.

14. Authorisation of orders for medicines

Our clinicians can only make a decision as to whether it is in the best interests of the patient to receive a medicine when the clinician has all relevant information. On occasion, this may require the clinician to ask the patient for additional information further to the information that was provided in response to an online questionnaire.

15. Non-availability/substitutes

If a patient’s chosen pharmacy is unable to fulfil a prescription or supply goods ordered, we will contact the patient to agree an alternative pharmacy that we have already identified as having the item available.  The original prescription/order will be revoked, and a new prescription/order will be sent to the new pharmacy.

16. Delivery of orders

We will dispense all medicines and supply all goods. Medicines and goods for delivery by post will be dispatched normally within one working day of the clinician authorising the supply of the medicine. 

Most medicines and goods for delivery by post are sent out using our delivery partner Royal Mail. Orders shipped using a next day delivery service should be delivered the next working day, whereas orders shipped using a standard delivery service should be delivered within two to three working days. Delivery time frames are based on the time orders are approved by our clinical team, please see below for delivery cut off information.

Most orders will be delivered in a small parcel that will exceed the size of a standard letterbox. If no one is present to accept the parcel upon delivery, the courier will leave a “Something for you” card explaining they will re-attempt delivery the following working day, with the option to reschedule on a different day. Upon a second unsuccessful delivery attempt, the courier will leave a “Something for you” card explaining the options for rearranging delivery to the same address, delivery to a different location or collection from the local delivery office.

Royal Mail may take a photograph of the parcel(s) upon delivery to your chosen delivery location as evidence of delivery.

While most orders will be delivered in parcels that exceed the size of a standard letterbox, by selecting delivery, you acknowledge and agree that some parcels may be posted through your letterbox if they meet the size requirements. Once the parcel has been delivered through the letterbox, Online Doctor is not liable for any loss, theft, or damage to the parcel. It is your responsibility to ensure that your letterbox is secure and that no harm (for example to the parcel itself or to a child) will result from delivery using that method.

Treatments for next-day delivery

Mainland UK 

• Orders approved before 5pm Monday-Friday will arrive the next day (Tuesday - Saturday).
• Orders approved up to 11am Saturday will arrive on Sunday.
• Orders approved after 11am Saturday and all-day Sunday will arrive Tuesday.

Treatments for standard delivery

Mainland UK 

• Orders approved before 5pm Monday-Friday will arrive within two to three working days.
• Orders approved up to 11am Saturday will arrive Tuesday to Wednesday.
• Orders approved after 11am Saturday and all day Sunday will arrive within two to three working days.

Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Scottish Highlands, Channel Islands and other off-shore UK destinations

• Unfortunately there are some locations where we can't offer next-day delivery.
• Please allow an additional 24 to 48 hours for offshore UK destinations.
• Your order may be delivered by an alternative courier.

Bank Holidays

• Please note there will be delivery delays to all treatments over public holidays.
• Due to specific time sensitive medications, some services may not be available over Bank Holidays.
• Treatments will be severely limited over Easter and Christmas 

Routine contraception

Next-day delivery orders: 

• Orders approved before 5pm Monday-Friday will arrive the next day (Tuesday - Saturday).
• Orders approved up to 11am Saturday will arrive on Sunday.
• Orders approved after 11am Saturday and all day Sunday will arrive Tuesday.

Standard delivery orders:

• All orders are delivered via the Royal Mail standard delivery service

Please expect orders to be delivered within 2-3 days allowing additional time for orders placed at weekends and over Bank Holidays.

17. Collecting medicines/goods from a participating pharmacy

If you opt to collect your medicines from a participating pharmacy, before doing so you need to check your online patient record to ensure a clinician has approved your medicine. You also need to telephone the pharmacy to check they have the medicine in stock.

Please be aware that if there are availability issues at your nominated pharmacy, it may not be possible to pick up your approved medicines on the same day as you ordered them.

18. Notification of errors

You should check the content of each delivery promptly upon receipt. If you believe that items have been sent to you in error you should contact us immediately via your online patient record.

19. Cancellation rights

You have a statutory ‘cooling-off’ right which entitles you to cancel your order within 14 days of delivery of the goods in your order (certain exceptions apply) or within 14 days of the date of any agreement to provide Services to you. You also have rights in respect of items that are damaged on receipt or faulty. Details of these rights and how to exercise these rights are set out in the email we send to you to confirm your order and below.

All cancellations must be received and reviewed by us because given the nature of the goods or medicines we may deliver to you it is not always possible for us to accept your cancellation request.

20. Prescription Medicines

The statutory “cooling off” right does not apply to the supply of prescription medicines and the supply of other medicines by a health care professional as part of a health service. When you place an order for medicines or take up a service that involves the prescribing of medicines this will require us to perform an assessment of your clinical suitability for the medicines before they can be approved for supply (“Clinical Assessment”). When you place an order, you agree to us commencing this Clinical Assessment and once this Clinical Assessment has been completed, you will have no legal right to cancel your order.

21. Other goods

For goods that do not require a prescription or consultation, you have the right to cancel your order within 14 days of receipt.

For orders with multiple goods items, this will be within 14 days of delivery of the last goods item. 

22. Reasons why you cannot change your mind.

You cannot change your mind about any order for items which are sealed for health protection or hygiene reasons once these have been unsealed after delivery to you.

23. The deadline for changing your mind.

If you change your mind about a product that is not a prescription or a pharmacy medicine, you must let us know no later than 14 days after the day we deliver it. If your purchase is split into several deliveries over different days, the period runs from the day after the last delivery. If you change your mind about a service, you must let us know no later than 14 days after the day on which you ordered it or, if later, the day on which we confirm acceptance of your order.

24. How to let us know.

To let us know you want to change your mind, contact our Patient Advisory Team or through your secure online Patient Record.

25. You have to return the product at your own cost. 

You have to return your product to us within 14 days of your telling us you have changed your mind. Returns are at your own cost. You should return a prescription product/medicine to any pharmacy for destruction. Any other product, please return to Well, Healthcare Service Centre, Meir Park, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST3 7UN.

26. We only refund the standard cost of delivering your items to you.

We do not refund any extra you have paid for express delivery or delivery at a particular time and we do not refund the cost of returning items to us.

27. Why we may reduce your refund. 

If you cancel an order for our products or services after we have provided any form of Clinical Assessment but before medication has been sent to you, we may charge you our standard administration fee to cover the costs of that Clinical Assessment. Your refund will be reduced by this amount.

If you handle any over the counter product in a way which would not be acceptable in-store, we reduce your refund, to compensate us for its reduced value. For example, we reduce your refund if the product's condition is not "as new", price tags have been removed, the product-branded packaging is damaged, or accessories are missing. In some cases, because of the way you have treated the product, no refund may be due.

28. When and how we refund you. 

If you tell us you have changed your mind about an item that has not been delivered we refund you as soon as possible and within 14 days.

If you are sending an item back to us, we refund you within 14 days of receiving it (or receiving evidence you have sent it to us).

If you cancel a service before we have started to provide this to you we refund you within 14 days of receiving your cancellation request.

We refund you by the method you used for payment. We do not charge a fee for the refund. You will see the transaction as “Well Online” on your bank or card statement.

29. Our right to cancel

29.1    It is at our clinicians’ discretion to provide treatment to you. Where a clinician refuses to administer any treatment requested, your patient record will be updated with a full explanation as to why this has been refused. You can obtain a copy of your patient record at any time on request.

In this circumstance where payment has been taken, we will issue a refund to you to the payment card that you used for the original transaction.

29.2    In other circumstances we may not be able to accept your order for example where:
29.2.1    There is no availability of the medicines you require;
29.2.2    You are not eligible to use our services;
29.2.3    There is an issue with us taking your payment; or 
29.2.4    The pricing provided by us is incorrect.

In these circumstances, where payment has been taken, we will issue a refund to you to the payment card that you used for the original transaction.

30. Discounts

From time to time, we will run promotional offers and discounts on our services. Unless otherwise stated:

• Discounts cannot be applied retrospectively - you can only claim the discounts during the time of the promotion and not before or after
• We reserve the right to withdraw such offers at any time
• We reserve the right to amend the discounts or the terms and conditions applicable to that promotional offer where we consider it reasonable and necessary to do so.

31. Faulty or damaged goods

If you believe that goods that we have supplied to you are damaged or faulty in some way please contact us as soon as possible after delivery so we can discuss the issue with you.

32. Our liability to you

32.1    We accept full clinical responsibility for all our patients to the full extent that the law requires. We will not be liable for any loss or damage (in contract negligence or otherwise) where:
32.1.1    There is no breach of a legal duty of care owed to you by us or;
32.1.2    The loss or damage is not a reasonably foreseeable result of any such breach or;
32.1.3    Any loss or damage or increased risk of loss or damage results from a breach by you of these Terms and Conditions.
32.2    We are not responsible for:
32.2.1    loss or damage caused by you providing inaccurate or incomplete information;
32.2.2    loss of your emotional well-being including, but not limited to, any embarrassment caused;
32.2.3    loss or damage relating to your trade, business, craft or profession; or
32.2.4    losses suffered by third parties.
32.3    Nothing in these Terms and Conditions affects your statutory rights.

33. You have several options for resolving disputes with us

33.1    Our complaints policy. Our Patient Advisory Team will do their best to resolve any problems you have with us or our products.

33.2    You can go to court. These terms are governed by English law and wherever you live you can bring claims against us in the English courts. If you live in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring claims against us in the courts of the country you live in. We can claim against you in the courts of the country you live in.

34. Other important terms apply to our contract

34.1    We can transfer our contract with you, so that a different organisation is responsible for supplying your product. We will tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under the contract.

34.2    Nobody else has any rights under this contract. This contract is between you and us. Nobody else can enforce it and neither of us will need to ask anybody else to sign-off on ending or changing it.

34.3    If a court invalidates some of this contract, the rest of it will still apply. If a court or other authority decides that some of these terms are unlawful, the rest will continue to apply.

34.4    Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later. We might not immediately chase you for not doing something (like paying) or for doing something you are not allowed to, but that does not mean we cannot do it later.

34.5    We can change these terms. We can make changes to these terms and conditions for example to deal with any change in the law or in relation to our business. The new version will be posted on the website and will take effect immediately on posting.

NOTHING IN THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SHALL AFFECT YOUR STATUTORY RIGHTS

Page updated: 04/12/2024