Order 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.

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.

If you know you’ll have to pay for a lot of NHS prescriptions, it may be cheaper to buy a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC) – effectively a prescription “season ticket”.

A PPC covers all your NHS prescriptions, including NHS dental prescriptions, no matter how many items you need.

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. Alternatively, you can complete a repeat prescription request form that we have in reception.

GPs and pharmacies are moving suitable patients to electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD). You might be suitable for eRD if you get regular or repeat medicines that don’t change. eRD means your GP can send your regular or repeat prescriptions electronically to a pharmacy of your choice. You can then collect your medication from your pharmacy, or ask them to deliver it to your home. 

What eRD means for you

eRD allows your GP to send a series of repeat prescriptions to your pharmacy in one go, so there’s no need for you to order them each time. It’s reliable, secure and confidential. Your regular prescriptions are stored securely on the NHS database, so they’ll be ready at the pharmacy each time you need them.

How eRD can benefit you

If you get regular or repeat medicines, you might be suitable for eRD. Using eRD, you can: 

• save time by avoiding unnecessary trips or calls to your GP every time you need to order a repeat prescription
• order or cancel your repeat prescriptions online (if your GP practice offers this service)
• pick up your repeat prescriptions directly from your pharmacy without having to visit your GP
• spend less time waiting for your prescription in the pharmacy or GP practice, which means you can stay at home and avoid face-to-face contact when you need your repeat prescription during the coronavirus pandemic
• save paper – you won’t need a paper prescription to collect your medicine from the pharmacy

How do I sign up for eRD?

It’s really easy to sign up for eRD – just ask your GP or pharmacist to set it up for you.

We do not accept requests for repeat prescriptions by telephone. This prevents dangerous errors being made and leaves the telephone lines free for urgent matters.

The NHS app is a great way of having your medical records and services on your phone or computer! You can easily order repeat medications on the app or on the website.

Each year 25% of the population visit their GP for a respiratory tract infection (eg sinus, throat or chest infection). These are usually caused by viruses.

For patients who are otherwise healthy, antibiotics are not necessary for viral infections.

These infections will normally clear up by looking after yourself at home with rest, plenty of fluids and paracetamol.

Ear infections typically last 4 days

89% of cases clear up on their own

A sore throat typically lasts 7 days

40% of cases clear up after 3 days and 90% after 7 days without antibiotics

Sinusitis typically lasts 17 days

80% clear up in 14 days without antibiotics

Cough/bronchitis typically lasts 21 days

Antibiotics reduce symptoms by only 1 day

Antibiotics only work for infections caused by bacteria.

Taking unnecessary antibiotics for viral infections should be avoided because they may not be effective next time you have a bacterial infection.

If you are concerned about taking medication abroad you can visit your local community pharmacy who are well placed to provide the information that is needed, and can also advise on a wide range of travel-related health issues.

Hospital prescriptions will not be routinely issued from the practice. The first issue of a hospital prescription must be made by the hospital. Ongoing prescriptions for items issued by the hospital will be assessed and provided by the GP where clinically appropriate. We must have official notification from the hospital advising the GP to issue medication.

In exceptional circumstances, where a prescription cannot be obtained from the hospital pharmacy, will be assessed by a practice prescriber, and may be prescribed where appropriate. Please note, this does not guarantee that the medicine will be prescribed by the practice and you may be advised that you will need to return to the hospital pharmacy to get the medication you need.

All prescription requests will be dealt with within three working days, so it will usually be quicker to obtain a hospital prescription directly from the hospital pharmacy.

The Doctors have taken the decision not to prescribe diazepam in cases where the there is a fear of flying. There are a number of reasons for this that are set out below.

1) Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy and more relaxed. If there is an emergency during the flight it may impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions and react to the situation. This could have serious safety consequences for you and those around you.

2) Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however when you do sleep it is an unnatural non-REM sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep. This can cause you to be at increased risk of developing a blood clot (DVT) in the leg or even the lung. Blood clots are very dangerous and can even prove fatal. This risk is even greater if your flight is greater than 4 hours. 3) Whilst most people find benzodiazepines like diazepam sedating, a small number of people experience the opposite effect and may become aggressive. Benzodiazepines can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally. This could impact on your safety as well as that of other passengers and could also get you into trouble with the law.

4) According to the national prescribing guidelines that doctors follow (the British National Formulary, or BNF) benzodiazepines are not allowed to be prescribed in cases of phobia. Thus your doctor would be taking a significant legal risk by prescribing diazepam for fear of flying as it is going against these guidelines. Benzodiazepines are only licensed short term for a crisis in generalised anxiety. If this is the case, you should be getting proper care and support for your mental health and not going on a flight.

5) Diazepam and similar drugs are illegal in a number of countries. They may be confiscated or you may find yourself in trouble with the police.

6) Diazepam stays in your system for quite a while. If your job requires you to submit to random drug testing you may fail this having taken diazepam.

We appreciate that fear of flying is very real and very frightening. A much better approach is to tackle this properly with a Fear of Flying course run by the airlines. We have listed a number of these below.

Easy Jet – Tel 0203 8131644
Fearless Flyer EasyJet

British Airways – Tel 01252 793250
Flying with confidence

Virgin – Tel 01423 714900
Flying without fear

Specialists will often suggest particular medication at a hospital appointment and ask us to prescribe for you. To ensure your safety we do need to receive written information from the specialist before prescribing. Sometimes a medicine is suggested that is not in our local formulary. There is nearly always a close alternative, and specialists are told that we sometimes make suitable substitutions when you are referred. We will always let you know if this is the case.

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 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.

A GP, nurse or pharmacist will generally not give you a prescription for over-the-counter (OTC) medicines for a range of minor health conditions.

GPs are often asked to prescribe over-the-counter medication to satisfy nurseries and schools. This is a misuse of GP time, and is not necessary.

A GP in the surgery can only provide a private prescription if the medication is not available on the NHS.

A private prescription is not written on an official NHS prescription and so is not paid for by the NHS. A prescription is a legal document for which the doctor, who has issued and signed it, is responsible. A doctor you see privately is unable to issue an NHS prescription.

The cost of a private prescription is met wholly by the patient and is dictated by the cost of the medicine plus the pharmacists charge for supplying it.

If you are staying outside the practice area for holidays, work etc. we are unable to send prescriptions by post/email/fax. You should register with a practice as a temporary resident and request the medication. The Practice will contact us to confirm what medication you are currently being prescribed. Alternatively depending on your location some pharmacies may be able to provide the medication for you.

STOMP stands for stopping over medication of people with a learning disability, autism or both with psychotropic medicines. It is a national project involving many different organisations which are helping to stop the over use of these medicines.  STOMP is about helping people to stay well and have a good quality of life.

It is well worth keeping a small stock of useful medicines at home in your (locked) first aid cupboard. For instance, pain killers (analgesics) such as Paracetamol, Ibuprofen or aspirin (children under 16 and people with asthma should not take aspirin), or Ibuprofen syrups  for children, Mild laxatives, Anti-diarrhoeal medicines, Indigestion remedy (for example, antacids) Travel sickness tablets, and Sunscreen – SPF15 or higher Sunburn treatment (for example, calamine). For more detail see NHS UK Medicine Chest.