What options are available to order your repeat prescriptions at our surgery?
To order a repeat prescription from us, you need to be registered at the practice.
We do not allow the ordering of repeat prescriptions over the phone to avoid errors occurring because of misheard medication requests.
You can order your repeat prescription using the following options:
- By ticking the required items on the counter side of your prescription (you should receive this with your dispensed medication from the pharmacy) and putting this in the prescription desk at our reception in Grimethorpe or Cudworth
- By ordering your prescription online using the NHS App or Patient Access. You can download the NHS App by clicking on the App Store icon, or Google Play icon below. It’s easy to set up from your armchair without the need to get further permission from the surgery. All you need is a photo ID and your NHS number.
Only an extremely limited number of patients (a handful of housebound patients who have no other option to order their prescriptions) will receive authorisation to order prescriptions via this route. We ask those who do have permission from us to order their prescriptions over the phone to do this only after 10 am when the phone lines are not as busy.
Is my prescription ready at the pharmacy as soon as I’ve requested it?
The answer to this question is a firm NO. There is a 48-hour processing time (during working days) within the surgery before we send it to the pharmacy. For safety reasons and to discourage overuse of (addictive) medication, we only issue the medication for the day the prescription is due (generally 28 days after the last issue). The pharmacy has their own processing time.
Although the request is a single request to you, we receive several hundred requests per day and these can’t all be dealt with immediately. After all, every prescription needs to be signed by the doctor and the doctor is seeing patients throughout the day too.
So what happens when I request a prescription?
- When you hand in your request (in the prescription box at the surgery), our receptionist will empty this box a few times throughout the day and request these items are issued by the GP.
- The receptionist should also check if you are due your medication review, and if this is the case, invite you for this.
However, it would be best if you also kept an eye on that yourself. The date for the review is mentioned on the counter side of your prescription, the part you hand in to request your medication.
Without your regular medication reviews, it may not be safe to continue prescribing the medication for you. - The requests for medication are sent electronically to the GP, who needs to sign these requests one-by-one, while again checking if the medication is due and should still be continued to be prescribed.
This takes a significant amount of time in the GP’s already busy day, and it is often not possible to sign a prescription the same day it is requested. - Although your medication request is dealt with within 48 hours on working days, the prescription may not be released within 48 hours.
For instance, if you request your medication on the 5th of the month, but it isn’t due until the 10th of the month, the prescription won’t be released until the 10th of the month. - Once the prescription is signed, it goes to the spine. This is a virtual place where it is held until the pharmacy downloads it from there. It will only be released from the spine if the release date is reached.
- The pharmacy downloads prescriptions at a few set times throughout the day, but they also have a few thousand prescriptions to deal with each day. All these prescriptions need careful checking to avoid errors and incorrect medication being dispensed.
- The surgery has no influence on the processing time at the pharmacy, and if you want to know how long it takes for them to process your prescription, you’ll need to have a word with them.
As you can see from the above, there is far more to the process of requesting your prescription than simply handing it in at reception. There is a lot that happens to your prescription from that point onwards.
Did you forget to put your prescription in on time? Although we understand that this can happen, we still need the time to process your request.
