No. Going private for testosterone does not require a referral from your GP, and you do not need her permission either. That surprises a lot of women, because the NHS route runs on referrals and it is easy to assume the private one does too. It does not, and knowing that saves the months some women spend waiting for a letter that was never needed.
Why people think a referral is needed
Two things get tangled together. On the NHS, seeing a menopause specialist does normally need your GP to refer you, and those clinics are few and their waiting lists are long. Separately, testosterone for women is unlicensed in the UK, and some GPs describe it as something only a specialist can start. Both of those are about the NHS route. Neither is a rule about private care.
What you actually need
- •A prescriber who is legally allowed to prescribe it. That means a doctor, or an independent nurse prescriber, working within their competence.
- •A consultation. Not a form, not a questionnaire: someone taking a history and deciding whether it is appropriate for you.
- •Usually, HRT that is already settled. Oestrogen is optimised first, because it affects the same symptoms.
- •Blood tests. A baseline before starting, then repeats while the dose is being settled.
Nothing on that list is a referral. What it is, in effect, is a higher bar than a referral, because a referral only moves you to a queue while an assessment decides whether the treatment is right for you at all.
Your GP still matters
Going private is not a break from your GP, and it should not be presented to you as one. Your medical record lives with her, and a private prescriber should write to her so that what you are taking is in one place. If a clinic does not offer to do that, ask why. A prescription that exists nowhere in your NHS record is a problem the first time you need urgent care or a different medicine.
She does not have to approve the prescription and she is not being asked to take it over. She is being told, which is what any responsible prescriber does.
What a referral would not have got you
It is worth being honest about the limit of the private route as well. No referral means no waiting list, but it does not mean a guaranteed prescription. Testosterone is not added on request, and a good assessment refuses it when the picture does not support it. If a service promises it before it has looked at you, that is the thing to walk away from, referral or not.
How Solene fits
Solene is nurse-led and needs no referral. Your first appointment is a video consultation with a named independent nurse prescriber, from anywhere in the UK, and she assesses whether testosterone is appropriate for you rather than issuing it on request. We write to your GP. After that the loop is the point: you score six symptom domains in your portal every week, each week measured against the last, and she reads that trend before a review rather than starting from how you happen to feel on the day. See what our plans include.
Waiting on a referral you may not need?
See what treatment costs, what each plan includes, and the prescriber you would be speaking to. Or map your symptoms first if you would rather start there.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a GP referral for testosterone in the UK?
Not for private care. A private doctor or independent nurse prescriber can assess and prescribe without one. An NHS menopause clinic normally does need a referral from your GP.
Do I need my GP's permission to go private?
No. You can see a private prescriber alongside NHS care, and you do not need her agreement to do it.
Will my GP be told?
She should be. A responsible private prescriber writes to your GP so your record is complete. Ask any clinic whether they do this before you book.
Can my GP take over the prescription afterwards?
Sometimes, and it depends on local arrangements and on her own comfort with an unlicensed medicine. It is worth asking her directly rather than assuming either way.
Does no referral mean I will definitely get testosterone?
No. The assessment decides, and it does refuse it where the picture does not support it. No referral removes the queue, not the clinical judgement.
