Running a pharmacy weight loss clinic: more than the number on the scales

12 Oct 2026

Sehar Shahid is the founder and superintendent pharmacist of 24HR Pharmacy, a UK online pharmacy, where she runs a weight loss clinic as an independent prescriber. Alongside her clinical work, she is Board Director for Scotland at the National Pharmacy Association (NPA). She also contributes to clinical training in obesity management and mentors other professionals through leadership and empowerment initiatives. Her work was recognised at the Pharmacy Business Awards 2025, where she was named Independent Prescriber of the Year.

A career built on transferable skills

Many patients first come to the clinic wanting to lose a little weight. Ms Shahid describes that as "the top layer". With the right support, she sees much wider changes in the people she treats, including their confidence, their belief in themselves, their health, and even their relationships at home. In some cases that includes reversing pre-diabetes. "As a pharmacist, that is my favourite thing to do," she says.

In this short video, Ms Shahid explains how she approaches weight management. She treats medication as a tool, and alongside it she helps patients build healthier habits that become a lasting lifestyle change. Once patients reach their target weight, some choose to stay on treatment and others come off it. Either way, she aims to leave them able to take control of their own health. "For me it's such a fulfilling role," she says.

Pharmacist-led weight management services have grown quickly with the arrival of GLP-1-based treatments. Independent prescribing qualifications give pharmacists with an interest in obesity care and health education a route into patient-facing, clinic-based work.

Watch the full 'In Discussion With' interview with Sehar Shahid on MedicalUpdateOnline

Running a pharmacy weight loss clinic: more than the number on the scales

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