Internet pharmacy

Providing pharmacy services online: information for pharmacy owners and pharmacy teams

All pharmacies in Great Britain, including those providing internet services, must be registered with the GPhC and meet our standards for registered pharmacies.

Owners of online pharmacies also have to make sure they follow guidance on providing pharmacy services at a distance, including on the internet.

Read the updated guidance in Welsh

Follow this link to find out more about meeting the new guidance for online pharmacies

Voluntary internet pharmacy logo scheme

Internet pharmacy logo

The GPhC operates a voluntary internet pharmacy logo scheme to provide reassurance to patients and the public that they are purchasing medicines online from registered pharmacies who have to meet GPhC standards. The voluntary internet pharmacy logo scheme is unaffected by Brexit.

If you would like to apply to use our voluntary internet pharmacy logo, please read the conditions for use first.

If you think your pharmacy service can meet the conditions of use, download and complete the application form.

Distance Selling logo 

From 1 January 2021 Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) based online sellers are no longer required to display the EU common logo (in the UK known as the Distance selling Logo).

Because of the Northern Ireland Protocol, anyone in Northern Ireland selling medicines to the public via a website must still comply with the requirement to apply the EU common logo. This means they must be registered with the MHRA and display a Distance Selling Logo on every page of the website offering medicines for sale.

For Great Britain the MHRA will be considering an alternative to the use of the Distance Selling Logo in the future.

The MHRA will continue to disrupt illegitimate online retailers through enforcement activity, and the MHRA will promote guidance to inform consumer choice when buying healthcare products online through public health campaigns across the UK.

The MHRA is no longer processing new applications for the Distance Selling Logo in Great Britain.

More information is available on the MHRA website.