Patients should order their repeat prescriptions when they have 5-7 days of medication left (if ordered too early it may get declined).
The easiest ways to order repeat prescriptions are:
These accounts show you all your repeat medicine and dosage and you can choose the ones you need.
You can also:
You can usually collect your prescription from the pharmacy 3 to 5 working days after you have ordered it.
You will need to choose a pharmacy to collect your prescription from. We call this nominating a pharmacy.
You can change your nominated pharmacy at any time:
We recognise that some patients may still require assistance with ordering their repeat prescriptions, for example, due to age, mental illness, capacity or if you do not have access to the internet and find it difficult to get to the surgery. In these circumstances, and with the agreement of the GP practice, the pharmacy or appliance contractor may carry on ordering on the patient’s behalf. If a family member, or carer, knows someone who they think needs help ordering prescriptions they should speak to the surgery or pharmacy as soon as possible.
If you have questions about your medicine, your local pharmacists can answer these. They can also answer questions on medicines you can buy without a prescription.
The NHS website has information on how your medicine works, how and when to take it, possible side effects and answers to your common questions.
If you would like to speak to someone at the GP surgery about your prescription:
If you have a repeat prescription, we may ask you to come in for a regular review. We will be in touch when you need to come in for a review.
Find out more about prescription charges (nhs.uk).
Take it to the pharmacy you got it from or bring it in to the surgery. Do not put it in your household bin or flush it down the toilet.
As qualified healthcare professionals, pharmacists can offer advice on minor illnesses such as:
They can also advise on medicine that you can buy without a prescription.
Many pharmacies are open until late and at weekends. You do not need an appointment.
Most pharmacies have a private consultation room where you can discuss issues with pharmacy staff without being overheard.
‘Dispensing Patients’
People are often uncertain what qualifies a patient registered with Sedbergh Medical practice to obtain their prescription items from the dispensary at the Health Centre – is there a degree of favouritism towards some patients? – is it arbitrary - or what!
However, legally and in our context a ‘Dispensing patient’ is defined as someone who lives more than one mile from their nearest chemist. Thus for the majority of our patients, anyone who lives more than a mile from Boots in Sedbergh is entitled to obtain their prescription items from the dispensary at the Health Centre. However a patient registered with us who lives within a mile of another dispensing chemist, such as Boots in Kirkby Lonsdale, is not entitled to obtain their prescriptions from the Health Centre.
Dispensing patients are free to choose to collect their prescription items from a chemist if they so prefer, but patients living within a mile of a chemist are not allowed to collect their prescriptions from the Health Centre. In the future the system may become ‘de-regulated’ which would enable all patients to exercise free choice in deciding from where they obtain their medicines.