Medication and Prescriptions

If you need to book a medication review we can arrange a telephone consultation with a trained pharmacist. These apointments are available throughout the week, including evenings and the weekend.

We prefer to use the NHS Electronic Prescription Service to send prescriptions electronically to a local pharmacy (or dispensing appliance contractor) nominated by patients. This makes prescribing and dispensing more efficient and convenient for patients, the practice and pharmacists.

Our aim is to process 100% of prescriptions this way, so that patients do not have to attend the surgery, wherever possible. To help us:

• nominate a local pharmacy or a dispensing appliance contractor from which you would like to get your prescriptions from by advising our reception staff
• start using online services for ordering (and cancelling) repeat prescriptions
  
• use the NHS App

If you have nominated a dispenser and ordered your requirements online, you should no longer have to collect a paper repeat prescription from the surgery. Instead, if the repeat prescription is pre-authorised, you can go to the nominated pharmacy (or dispensing appliance contractor) to pick up your medicines or medical appliances. Please allow the dispenser sufficient time to download the prescription order and prepare your items, but your waiting time will be largely down to the capacity of pharmacists on the day.

We routinely issue prescriptions for up to two months’ supply (56 days) of medication, with a few exceptions three-monthly (e.g. HRT) and six-monthly (e.g. the contraceptive pill).

Please note that we no longer accept telephone requests for repeat prescriptions, so these need to be made online, or by making a request in person at any of the 3 surgeries.

In some circumstances, a repeat prescription request will need to be authorised by a GP before a pharmacist can dispense, for example if this relates to a controlled drug or the prescription period has expired.

Where routine prescriptions require a GP’s approval, please allow 48 hours (or 2 working days) for appropriate safety checks, generating the prescription, signing and transferring this to the dispenser. Last minute requests place unhelpful demands on a stretched system.

It is worth bearing in mind the following examples which can cause delays or refusals:

• the repeat ordering system is NOT for unique, one-off or non-repeat items;
• if you have not requested a repeat item for over 18 months, it may have been removed automatically from the system

• if you have over-run your review date (displayed beneath each medication on the reordering slip), your GP may require you to attend a review before issuing further repeat medications for your own safety (see below);
• if we do not have up-to-date contact details (especially email and phone), we may be unable to alert you to any problems.

We aim to review all patients on repeat medication at least annually and in some cases six-monthly. This is to ensure you are tolerating your medications and review the problems for which they were first prescribed. Our Practice Nurses undertake the majority of these, while GPs focus on patients with more complex needs.

Over-the-counter medication, changes to prescribing

And across England, in the year prior to June 2017, the NHS spent approximately £569 million on prescriptions for medicines which can be purchased over the counter from a pharmacy and other outlets such as supermarkets.

To help ensure we make the best use of our budget we have now implemented national guidance (issued by NHS England) and are asking GPs not to routinely prescribe over-the-counter medicines for a range of minor health concerns. Instead we are asking local people to buy over-the-counter medicines from their local pharmacy or supermarket.

Please help the NHS to use the resources sensibly. You can find more information here and here.