First medical cannabis clinic approved in Scotland

Scotland’s first medical cannabis clinic has been approved by regulators.

Sapphire Medical Clinic has become the first cannabis clinic to be approved by Scottish regulators in a landmark and potentially “life-changing” moment for patients. 

The award-winning clinic is now authorised to provide safe access to medical cannabis for patients in Scotland after receiving Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) registration.

The clinic is located in One Allan Park Wellbeing Clinic, Stirling, in the central belt of Scotland and initial appointments will take place from Monday 22 March. 

In 2018 the UK law changed, allowing doctors to prescribe cannabis-based medicines under certain circumstances.

Cannabis-based medicines can be considered for a vast range of conditions including back pain,  arthritis and anxiety, where patients have tried standard treatments with little symptom relief or an unsustainable level  of side effects.  

Sapphire Medical was the first clinic to be granted approval by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to operate in England and currently supports thousands of patients to access treatment.

Since the COVID pandemic Sapphire has been able to provide telemedicine appointments to patients in England and the approval granted today by HIS allows both face-to-face and telemedicine consultations to be offered in Scotland too.  

Susan Beckley, living in Forres, is waiting for an appointment at Sapphire Medical Clinics Scotland as she suffers with multiple sclerosis (MS) and chronic pain. 

Commenting on the announcement, Susan said: “Now Scottish patients like myself can access legal medical cannabis with the peace of mind we are being treated by specialists within a HIS-regulated clinic. This option could be life changing for patients.” 

Andie Connolly-Brown, 41, who lives in Edinburgh and suffers with complex PTSD and anxiety for which she has tried a range of conventional therapies, said: “Having access to medical cannabis is a  lifeline for me.

“Today’s news that Sapphire Medical Clinics are now registered with Healthcare Improvement Scotland is timely, my anxiety in particular has been made worse by the Covid-19 lockdown so safe and affordable access to medical cannabis is welcome.” 

To help reduce cost barriers, the Sapphire Access Scheme offers affordable consultations to patients who enrol in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry, a clinical database set up to collect high quality data on treatment outcomes, side effects and a range of health outcome metrics.  

“We are delighted to be the first clinic to be  registered with HIS, which is a testament to the robust clinical governance framework we have established in evaluating  patients for treatment with medical cannabis,” commented Dr Mikael Sodergren, managing director of Sapphire Medical.

By capturing clinical outcomes through the UK Medical Cannabis Registry,  we will significantly contribute to the evidence base and ultimately allow more patients to benefit from medical cannabis as a treatment option.”

The cost of an initial appointment is £100, with a first follow-up £50 and quarterly check-ups afterwards £45.