Repeat Prescriptions

Repeat Medication Ordering

Repeat Prescriptions: These are medication that your doctor wants you to have access to on a regular basis – usually every 28 days. Patients will be asked to attend Medication Reviews to ensure that the continued dispense of the medication is safe & appropriate. Patient Repeat Prescriptions may be refused or reduced if they do not attend a Medication Review.

Repeat Dispensing:  If you are on very stable medication the doctor may sign a prescription in advance – this  allows the patient to collect monthly for up to a year without needing to reorder.

Medicines Wastage: Many items prepared by our dispensers are never collected. We are often returned carrier bags full of medication that have not been used. This represents wasted staff time and is a significant expense to the NHS. NHS Buckinghamshire requests that we ask patients to reorder medication themselves to reduced wastage.

Repeat Medication (Prescription) Ordering

Patients need to reorder their repeat prescriptions when they are getting close to the end of the current medicine dispense. Best practice is to order repeat medication 7 working days before the current medicine dispense ends. Patients should not order further in advance than 10 working days as there is a risk that the repeat prescription request will be rejected.

Using the NHS APP to order your repeat prescription is the most efficient method as the request is direct to the doctors inbox for action (significantly less administration and opportunity for errors avoided).

Patients who are unable to use the NHS APP (please allow an additional working day to enable the administration tasks to be completed)

Telephone – for use by housebound / vulnerable patients ONLY.

eMail ([email protected]) – please ensure that the request for repeat medication is clear and include you patient details (ideally, Name, Date-of-Birth, & NHS Number, if available) this ensures that we can accurately align the request to the patient and task the doctor to issue a repeat prescription.

Paper – we accept paper requests (if not stated on the document please include Name, Date-of-Birth, & NHS Number, if applicable)