Repeat prescriptions are medications which appear on the reverse of your prescription which your doctor would like you to continue on a regular basis.
How to request a Repeat Prescription
Repeat prescriptions may be ordered in several ways:
Online
You can order your repeat prescriptions via NHS App (accessible via smartphone or website) or Airmid app. Please first download the NHS App to create your NHS Login to gain access. This is our preferred method to request your prescription.
You can order your prescription by sending an email to [email protected], including your full name, date of birth and the medicines you require.
In Person
Fill in a prescription request form or underline the items needed on the tear-off side of your prescription and drop it into the surgery. Please do not order any medications you do not need.
Non-urgent advice: Please Note
Prescription requests should only be made in person if the other two options are not possible.
Prescriptions Information
Why does it take 3 working days to process a repeat prescription request?
At Northfields Surgery prescriptions are requested every day.
Our prescription clerk has to check your medical records to ensure that your medication request is on your repeat prescription, it then goes to our Clinical Pharmacist or Doctor to authorise and ensure that it is still appropriate for you. Once authorised, the prescription will be sent to your nominated pharmacy.
Please note, to ensure patient safety, all repeat prescription requests should not be submitted earlier than 7 days prior to the due date.
Prescribing for patients travelling abroad
Patients are only entitled to a sufficient supply on an NHS expense (up to 3 months) of their regular medication to get to the destination and find an alternative supply of that medication. For holidays longer than 3 months a patient should register with a local doctor for continuing medication. We can provide the patient with a list of current medications and a summary of relevant medical history if required.
Further information can be found in the link below:
Delays may occur if any medication requested is not on your repeat prescription list or if your medication request differs from what is on your list. Your doctor may also request that you make an appointment to have your medication reviewed.
Nominate a Pharmacy
Your GP can send your prescription straight to a pharmacy/chemist electronically, to save you coming to the surgery to pick it up.
In order for this to happen you need to nominate a pharmacy/chemist; to do this please log in to the online service you use.
You can then pick up your medication from there, and it will save you a trip to the surgery; for more information, please visit the NHS Electronic Prescription Service Information Page.
Paper prescriptions can also be sent straight to your preferred pharmacy.
Prescription Costs
Visit NHS Choices for information on:
- Prescription charges
- Who is entitled for free prescriptions
- Medical exemptions (certain diseases will exempt you from paying for your prescription)
- Free prescriptions for cancer patients, renal dialysis patients and pregnant women
- Help for those on low income.
Non-Repeat Prescriptions
If you have an on-going problem and would like another prescription for a medicine previously prescribed to you by a doctor (but not on your repeat list), please fill in an eConsult.
If you are unable to use the online facilities, please call us and make a routine telephone appointment with one of our clinicians to discuss/or review your request.
Non-repeat medication request may take up to 3 working days to process.
Emergency Prescription Requests
Emergency prescription requests are requests for medication which you have run out of and need, to prevent you becoming severely unwell.
Emergency medications include; antiepileptic medication, insulin, inhalers and adrenaline pens for anaphylaxis.
Emergency prescription requests cannot be used for medication which has been ordered late; you should allow up to 3 working days for routine repeat prescription requests.
Please respect our staff, as it is your responsibility to ensure that your repeat prescription request is ordered in plenty of time.
New Patient Prescriptions
If you normally take regular repeat medication please let us know by:
- Giving us a copy of your repeat prescription slip.
- Give us a copy of your medication label on your medication box or bottle which has your name, medication dosage and date.
The prescribing pharmacist will check your medication list and put them on the repeats list but we recommend you make an appointment with the Doctor or Pharmacist to have a medication review within the first month of registering with the surgery.
It can take a couple of weeks for your previous records to be delivered to us from your last GP surgery; if you need medication before that, you can bring in your repeat slip and request your medication.
Your doctor might need to contact you about your medication request.
Please allow up to 3 working days for a prescription request.
Private Prescriptions
A GP in the surgery at which you are registered 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.
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.
A prescription is a legal document for which the doctor, who has issued and signed it, is responsible; a doctor you see privately can’t issue an NHS prescription.
Prescribing Wisely
Please see the link below for further information on requesting your repeat prescriptions and medicines and products that can be bought over the counter without a prescription: