How to Order a Repeat Prescription

 

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If you take medicine regularly, you'll usually have a repeat prescription. This means that you can order your medicine when you need it, without having to see a prescriber every time.

You might be able to ask your pharmacy directly for your medicine if your GP has set this up (repeat dispensing). If not, you'll need to order your medicines through a repeat prescription from your GP surgery.

There are 3 ways to order a repeat prescription from your GP surgery:

Don’t forget to nominate the pharmacy that you want your prescription/s to be sent to.

image of pharmacist

NB Verbal requests for repeat medicines will not be accepted for reasons of patient safety.

Your prescriber may authorise up to 12 months supply before you require a review, but this will depend on a number of circumstances.

The practice requires at least 3 working days to process requests for repeat medicines. It may take your nominated pharmacy / Brasted dispensary another 2 – 3 working days to order stock and prepare your medicines. For this reason you should ensure that your repeat requests are made sufficiently far in advance to ensure that you do not run out of medicines.

 

The NHS App and your NHS Account

The most efficient way to order your repeat prescription is via your NHS account or via the NHS app which is available to download via Google play or the App store. Once downloaded:

  1. Go to the homepage or ‘Services’.
  2. Select ‘Request repeat prescriptions’

Benefits of requesting repeat prescriptions via the NHS app

Benefits for patients:

  • patients can see all their prescription details in one secure place, giving them greater visibility and control of their healthcare
  • patients have confidence their prescription is being managed and can query issues earlier
  • patients don’t need to travel unnecessarily to collect paper tokens (if they have not  nominated a pharmacy) 
  • patients don’t have to wait for surgery to open to order their repeat prescription.   

Find more information about the NHS App here.

 

Medication Queries

Please get in touch with the surgery to raise a query about your medication.

Contact us

 

Repeat prescriptions – only order what you need

It is estimated that more than 2 million repeat prescription items are wasted in Kent and Medway each year.

Stockpiling medications, ordering more than necessary, or picking up repeat prescriptions without checking, costs the NHS and prevents others from using those medicines.

Expired medications may not work as intended and could compromise your care, while stockpiled medicines can be dangerous for children and pets.

You can help reduce waste by following these simple steps:

  • Check what medications you already have at home.
  • Only order what you need (you can reorder items when necessary) 
  • Check the medication bag before leaving the pharmacy and return any unwanted items for reuse.
  • Talk to your pharmacist or GP if you feel a medication isn't working for you.
 

How to Reauthorise a Repeat Prescription

When your repeat slips says reauthourise you must arrange to speak to a pharmacist or your GP.

You should do this once you have collected your last repeat.

 

Batch Prescriptions

For suitable patients, the prescriber can now authorise and issue a batch of repeat prescriptions for up to 12 months with just one digital signature. 

Batch prescriptions are not repeat prescriptions, so cannot be re-issued without the authority of your prescriber. See below for further information.

 

Emergencies

If you need your medicine urgently contact the surgery. If it's out of hours, go to NHS 111 online or call 111.

All out of hours requests should be addressed through the Out of Hours Services.

 

Nominating a pharmacy

For assistance with choosing a pharmacy, please search Find a pharmacy - NHS.

 

Further Information