ALL PRESCRIPTIONS REQUIRE 48 HOUR NOTICE
All prescriptions must be authorised and signed by a doctor, clinical pharmacist or the advanced nurse practitioner. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not run out of medication.
It is easier and quicker to request repeat prescriptions via our online service. Simply log in and select an option.
To help us to keep supplying medicines to everyone who needs them, please only order repeat prescriptions in your usual quantities at the usual time.
NHS App
Download the NHS App, or open the NHS website in a web browser, to set up and log in to your NHS account. Owned and run by the NHS, your NHS account is a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services online, including appointments, prescriptions and health record.
If you need to collect a prescription and have coronavirus symptoms or are self-isolating at home – please arrange for a friend, relative or volunteer to collect for you.
Your Repeat Medication
If you need regular medication and your doctor does not need to see you every time, you will be issued with ‘repeat prescription’. When you collect a prescription you will see that it is perforated down the centre. The left-hand side is the actual prescription.The right-hand side (re-order slip) shows a list of medicines that you can request without booking an appointment to see a doctor. Please tear off this section (and keep it) before handing the prescription to the chemist for dispensing.
If you forget to request a repeat prescription
If you forget to obtain a prescription for repeat medication and thus run out of important medicines, you may be able to get help from your Pharmacy. Under the Urgent Provision of Repeat Medication Service, Pharmacists may be able to supply you with a further cycle of a previously repeated medicine, without having to get a prescription from your GP.
If you have run out of important medication, telephone your usual Pharmacy to check that they offer this service; if they don’t, they may either direct you to another Pharmacy who does provide it, or ask you to phone 111 where you can request details of a local Pharmacy that provides the service.
You must then take with you to the relevant Pharmacy, proof of both your identification and of your medication (for example, your repeat prescription list or the empty box which should have your details printed on it). Please note that controlled drugs and antibiotics are not provided through this service, you will need to ring 111 for these.
If you receive stoma products from your Pharmacy or other supplier and/or receive items such as continence products, please ensure you have sufficient supplies as you may encounter difficulties in obtaining these over Bank Holidays, or when the Surgery is closed.
Help with NHS Costs
If you need help with NHS costs or need to find out if you can get free prescriptions please click the button below for further information.
How to order your medication
Electronic Prescription Service (EPS)
Patients without an EPS (electronic prescription service) nomination will be given a token (patients may refer to this as a paper copy of their prescription) to present at a community pharmacy to obtain their medication. This token will contain a unique barcode which can be scanned at any community pharmacy to download the prescription from the NHS Spine and retrieve the medication details. Alternatively to collect a paper prescription the token numbers can be sent via text message or given over the phone to reduce the footfall into the surgery.
Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD)
Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) enables patients on long-term, stable prescriptions to receive their medication at a pharmacy of their choice for up to 12 months, using the power of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).
Electronic repeat dispensing (eRD) is an integral part of EPS, which offers many extra benefits over paper repeat dispensing and repeat prescribing.
- two-thirds of prescriptions issued in primary care are repeat prescriptions. These repeat prescriptions account for nearly 80% of NHS medicine costs for primary care
- 410 million repeat prescriptions are generated every year – equivalent to an average of more than 375 per GP per week
- it’s estimated that up to 330 million, or 80%, of all repeat prescriptions could eventually be replaced with eRD
- this could save 2.7 million hours of GP and practice time
Which patients are suitable?
- Patients on stable therapy
- Patients with long-term conditions
- Patients on multiple therapy e.g. hypertension, diabetes, asthma etc.
- Patients that can appropriately self-manage seasonal conditions
Benefits for patients
- no need to contact the surgery to reorder at regular intervals unless their condition changes
- retain regular contact with their dispenser, who is responsible for checking that their circumstances haven’t changed since the previous issue of the prescription was collected
- change nominated dispenser at any time during the duration of the eRD prescription
- if clinically appropriate can request the next issue early or obtain more than one prescription, for example when going on holiday
By post
You can post your prescription slip or written request to us at the Practice. You must include a stamped addressed envelope for return by post if you will not be able to pick up your prescription from the Surgery (please allow extra time for any possible delays with the postal service).
In person
You can order in person by returning the right-hand half of a previous prescription for the required medications, or by submitting a handwritten request.
Pharmacy service
The practice is able to send your prescriptions electronically straight to the pharmacy of your choice, please ask at reception or at your local pharmacy regarding this service.
We are encouraging all patients to nominate a chosen pharmacy to reduce the footfall in the surgery. There are many benefits to sending prescriptions electronically including: saving paper, reducing medicine waste, it is faster and safer. You can also change your nominated pharmacy at any time.
Telephone
You can order prescriptions by calling the practice on 0191 215 0141 between 11am – 6pm, Monday to Friday.
Additional information
Hospital and Community Requests
When you are discharged from Hospital you should normally receive seven days supply of medication.
On receipt of your discharge medication, which will be issued to you by the Hospital, please contact the Surgery to provide them with this information before your supply of medication has run out.
Hospital requests for change of medication will be checked by a prescribing clinician first, and if necessary a prescribing clinician will provide you with a prescription on request.
Medication reviews
The Doctors at the Practice regularly review the medication you are taking. This may involve changes to your tablets and is in accordance with current Health Authority policies. Please be reassured that this will not affect your treatment. We may sometimes call you in for a medication review and this may involve blood tests. It is very important that you attend these appointments, as it keeps you safe whilst taking medication.
Non-repeat items (acute requests)
Non-repeat prescriptions, known as ‘acute’ prescriptions are medicines that have been issued by the Doctor but not added to your repeat prescription records. This is normally a new medication issued for a trial period, and may require a review visit with your Doctor prior to the medication being added onto your repeat prescription records.
Some medications are recorded as acute as they require to be closely monitored by the Doctor. Examples include many anti-depressants, drugs of potential abuse or where the prescribing is subject to legal or clinical restrictions or special criteria. If this is the case with your medicine, you may not always be issued with a repeat prescription until you have consulted with your Doctor again.