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Repeat Prescribing

Repeat prescriptions allow patients to obtain further supplies of their regular medicines without seeing the doctor or nurse every time.

When the doctor and patient agree that long term treatment is going to be required the medicines needed will usually be entered on the computer as "Repeat medication" and a list should appear on the paper to the right of the standard prescription form.

This "Right side" is a useful reminder of your usual treatment (take it with you on holiday or if you have an appointment at hospital). At the bottom there is a "Review date" This is a prompt to doctor and patient that at that time the need for the prescription or the dosage should be reconsidered.

In general everyone on repeat medication should be seen at the Practice at least once a year, for some people the interval will be shorter.

If your medication has been changed - for instance at a hospital clinic - it is important to let us know who made the changes and when.

Further prescriptions of other medicines

In addition to the agreed and authorised repeat prescriptions we will sometimes repeat a treatment that has previously been effective. This is always at the discretion of the doctor and cannot be guaranteed.

When will my prescription be ready?

For the system to be safe it is important to make a number of checks before the prescription is prepared and checked by your usual doctor or whoever started the treatment.

We aim to have prescriptions ready to collect within 2 working weekdays of the request reaching us.

Requests for drugs that are not recognised as repeat treatment (i.e. they are not on the "Right side" sheet) may take longer to process as they require additional checking.

Running out of medicine

In exceptional circumstances if you find you have run short of your medicine please speak to one of the reception staff directly and we will try to "fast-track" your request.

Pharmacy collections

All the local pharmacists will collect the completed prescriptions from the surgery and some offer a delivery service too.

Ordering your repeat prescription

Checking your prescription

It is important that you check the written prescription and the drugs supplied by either the pharmacist or Practice dispensary.

If it is not what you were expecting please contact us as soon as possible.

Drug & medicine name

We prescribe almost all drugs by their "approved" or "generic" name that accurately describes the active ingredients. This is the name that should appear on the printed dispenser's label with your name and the date.

However the packaging of some drugs also emphasises the manufacturer's or "brand name" which is often different.

Sometimes a different brand of the same drug is supplied by the pharmacist. If you have any worries that this may not be the same actual drug please check back with the pharmacy or dispensary you collected from.

Duration of prescriptions

We prescribe almost all medicines to last for one month's treatment. This is in line with local and national policy to reduce the millions of pounds wasted in unused medicines that have to be thrown away each year.

The exceptions are those treatments that are prescribed in longer cycles and packaged in that way.