Why fewer than 1% of UK doctors are trained in medical cannabis and how Releaf is working to change it

We do so with the hope that this openness encourages others in the sector to invest in structured clinical education, along with initiatives that support learning beyond the clinic…

Why is there a medical cannabis training gap in the UK?

The unfortunate reality we find ourselves in is that the UK is still to build and implement a clearly defined educational pathway for doctors who want to learn about (and then prescribe) cannabis-based treatment options. 

At this point in time, medical schools do not teach up-and-coming doctors about the endocannabinoid system or cover cannabis based medicines in a clinical context. There is no NHS-backed training programme or any form of nationally recognised curriculum in place. 

In practice, this essentially means that doctors on the GMC Specialist Register do not automatically have the training required to prescribe medical cannabis, in the same way they would for many conventional treatment options. The overwhelming majority actually have very little exposure to the emerging research, the products now legally available, or the practicalities of prescribing medical cannabis in the UK. 

This may point to why Releaf patients often tell us that they have received conflicting or incomplete advice from nurses, GPs, and specialists working outside of the medical cannabis sector. Clinicians who are working from their training, but are still reinforcing outdated assumptions and a certain level of stigma. 

The numbers reflect this gap. 

Estimates suggest that only around 180 specialist clinicians in the UK currently prescribe medical cannabis, despite roughly 100,000 being legally permitted to do so. And this is exactly why a well-structured, fully-supported approach to clinician training matters so much.

How does Releaf train clinical team members before they begin interacting with patients?

Every new member of Releaf’s world-class clinical team, whether they are a specialist, GP, or nurse, must complete an in-depth, structured training pathway before they begin supporting patients independently. 

Along with clinical guidance, the training requirements ensure all clinical staff working at Releaf have a robust understanding of the governance, safety and decision-making frameworks that underpin responsible cannabis based treatment. 

This includes:

• A full day of cannabinoid and endocannabinoid system training conducted by Dr Alex Van Heerden (Releaf’s Clinical Director) covering ECS function, cannabinoid pharmacology, treatment mechanisms, titration logic and common patient presentations
• Mandatory governance modules including the Mental Capacity Act, POVA, adult and child safeguarding, GDPR, data governance, professional boundaries and safe prescribing standards
• Core curriculum introducing the principles of cannabis based treatment, including product types, onset and duration, bioavailability, therapeutic indications, dosing strategy and condition-specific assessment frameworks
• Access to Releaf’s full suite of prescribing guidelines, SOPs, clinical governance documents and decision support tools to ensure a consistent, safe standard of care across the entire team
• Structured onboarding that moves new clinicians from formal learning into supervised practice, including shadowing senior prescribers for 2 full days, reviewing MDT case discussions and working through real-world patient scenarios
• Direct exposure to Releaf’s daily MDTs, with 4 to 6 meetings each day, helping clinicians understand complex case handling, escalation pathways and collaborative clinical decision-making
• Hands-on industry education, including a full day at Glass Pharms® to understand cultivation, environmental controls and pharmaceutical grade production and then at SOMAÍ Pharmaceuticals in Portugal, with 3 days of insight into manufacturing, formulation, batch testing, quality assurance and regulatory processes.

Releaf’s approach to ongoing learning and high clinical standards

Clinical development doesn’t stop once our clinical team members finish up this first batch of training modules.  

With medical cannabis research and treatment standards evolving at a pretty rapid pace, we have made ongoing development the norm, with a simple set of goals steering the ship. To keep our team up to date, well-supported and able to respond to new evidence as it emerges.

This includes:

• Fortnightly CPD (continued professional development) sessions where the clinical team meet and share experiences, and then discuss new pieces of research
• Daily multidisciplinary team meetings where cases are reviewed, and treatment plans are discussed collaboratively
• Monthly team meetings to discuss which practices are working well and which could be strengthened 
• Scheduled refreshers on safeguarding, consent and data protection so core standards remain strong
• Additional learning opportunities through partner visits and specialist training days
  Development of nurse teams who receive structured support and opportunities to build their expertise

How is Releaf helping to close the knowledge gap across the wider system?

Graham Woodward, Releaf’s Chief MedicalOfficer, puts it this way:

“As most of the confusion and ingrained stigma surrounding medical cannabis in the UK stems from outside the medical cannabis sector itself, we have made a concerted effort to help the UK public and frontline services build a clearer, more accurate understanding of what legal medical cannabis in the UK actually looks like. 

Much of this comes down to simple conversation, information sharing and opening up the process so the authorities and public can see for themselves how carefully regulated and patient-centred it all is, and how Releaf is always looking for new ways to support the sector. Education is one of the most powerful tools we have, and it makes a meaningful difference to how patients experience the system.”

Bringing officers into the patient experience

One of the more practical ways that Releaf supports wider understanding is through the workshops we regularly run for police. Led by Rupa Shah, Releaf’s Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, and delivered in partnership with Glass Pharms® (at their cultivation facility), these education sessions have been designed to give officers a much better understanding of how it all works in the real world. 

During the workshops, the full journey of a medical cannabis product (seed to soil, harvest to packaging, prescribing to patient delivery) is explained in great detail. The officers are shown what a legitimate prescription looks like, how pharmacy packaging is labelled, and how tools like the Releaf UK medical cannabis card can help them verify a patient’s details quickly, confidently, and most importantly, without infringing on patient’s rights. 

For many officers, it is the first time they have seen legal medical cannabis outside the context of illicit use, and the shift in understanding is often immediate. Several of the police teams we have worked with so far have asked to use our materials for wider training across their teams.

How Releaf’s approach benefits UK medical cannabis patients sector-wide

The idea behind all of this work is simple and feeds back into our main ethos: Every single Releaf patient is our only patient, and we build our systems and training around that basic principle.  

Patient safety and confidence (along with treatment efficacy) is paramount, and we want every person who comes to Releaf to feel they are in safe hands, guided by clinicians who are well-trained, well-supported, and ready to help in any way possible. 

That same principle extends beyond the clinic.

We have built the most comprehensive blog and education spaces in the UK medical cannabis sector, designed to help people understand the treatment, the law, and the lived experience with clarity. This includes our New Patient blog series (more than 50 short, practical articles designed to make the first steps as a medical cannabis patient so much easier), and our Decoding Cannabis blog series (where we take new pieces of medical cannabis research and break them down into much more accessible explanations), along with so many other initiatives.

We are constantly on the lookout to see how we can improve the services and treatment options we offer Releaf patients, and there is always something cooking in the background that we can’t wait to announce. 

So, keep your ear to the ground and your eyes Releaf. The field moves quickly, and as always, we will move with it in ways that continue to support, educate and empower the people who rely on us.

If you are interested in UK medical cannabis but unsure where to start, Releaf’s medical cannabis eligibility checker is the place for you. It is quick, obligation (and cost) free, and gives you a clear sense of whether medical cannabis could be a suitable option for you.

Releaf - Let’s Rethink Healthcare