How to order a repeat prescription

Dear Patients

Those of you that request your repeat prescriptions in writing may find the letter in the link below of great use to make it easier for you when requesting your repeat prescriptions.

Online repeat prescription patient information letter Final

Prescribing policy

• The practice has a strict repeat prescribing policy, to prevent prescribing errors, and to ensure regular monitoring. 
• We will require two working days to process your prescription.
• Please do not request your repeat prescription more than a week before your last prescription runs out.
• Your prescription will go to one of the surgery pharmacists. It is possible that you will be asked to talk to your GP before a repeat prescription is agreed.
• Please note that we do not prescribe over the counter medication. They are available to buy in your local pharmacy or supermarket.
• If you currently request your prescription on paper, please would you consider switching to the online service via the Practice website. It’s very easy to do and will save you time as you will not have to come to the Surgery. When you request on-line, the requests will go from you direct to the doctor.  This is more efficient than going via administrative staff and, compared with paper requests, greatly reduces the chance of prescriptions being misread, delayed or mislaid. It also means that you can submit the request from home, or from anywhere, without having to visit the surgery.

How do I order a repeat prescription?

There are two ways of ordering on line:

1. Patient Access (our preferred and quickest method)

Repeat prescriptions can be made via Patient Access. For more details, including how to register with this service, please click here. This can also be accessed from the home page menu.

2. On-line form below

Information about Repeat Prescribing and why things go wrong with prescription requests

electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) is suitable for patients who receive the same medication regularly from the same pharmacy. If you are interested in receiving this service, a GP or community pharmacist will be able to discuss with you whether this service would be a suitable option for you. You will need to give your GP your consent to receive this service.

If you already receive this service, this information will help summarise the process.

In order for the pharmacist to be able to dispense your eRD, you should be asked the following questions before each supply. This will be either verbally, or by asking you to complete a brief questionnaire with the following questions

1. Are there any items that you do not need on this occasion?
2. Are you taking/using all your medicines as per your doctor’s instructions?
3. Are you getting any new problems with your medicines or having any problems with using or taking them e.g. any side-effects, swallowing problems?
4. Have there been any changes in your medication since this prescription was last issued?
   • Any medicines stopped by your doctor?
   • Any new medicines prescribed by your doctor?
   • Any newly purchased medicines e.g. over the counter/ herbal remedies/vitamins?
5. Have there been any changes in your health since this prescription was issued?

There are a number of reasons for this requirement:

Your safety: As you will have less contact with the GP using eRD, your pharmacist needs to make sure the prescription is still appropriate for you. They can also help make sure that you are taking your medicine as your doctor intended or if you need further support. If need be, any issues of concern to the pharmacist will be reported back to the practice.

Reduces waste: If you do not require each item of medicine every time, you do not need to request it. Stockpiling medicines can be dangerous as medication may change causing confusion. Unused medicines cannot be disposed of in the domestic waste- they must be returned to your pharmacy for safe disposal. It can also save the NHS money if you do not order medication that is not required. Medicines returned to a pharmacy from a patient’s home cannot be supplied to any other patient. Legally, these medicines cannot be used again and have to be destroyed leading to unnecessary waste.

When the last prescription in the batch has been dispensed by the pharmacist you should be informed by the pharmacist or you may have kept a record of this yourself. At this point you need to arrange a medication review with the GP. The pharmacist should NOT order another batch but should direct you to the GP

Please let the practice or pharmacy know if you would like to discuss any element of the electronic Repeat Dispensing service.

Why things go wrong with prescription requests:

• There are no more repeats left and a medication review is needed.
• The request is for a drug which is not on your repeat list.
• The request is too early – eRD are postdated and the clinical software at the GP practice will not allow for a prescription to be issued if requested too early.
• The request has already been sent to the Pharmacist electronically but the pharmacist has not downloaded it or is trying to download a prescription too early and the system software will not allow them to override this. The GP can do nothing about this and the pharmacist should not direct you to the Practice for another prescription, but should wait for the appropriate time for the prescription to be “released”.