Repeat prescriptions can be ordered:

• Online via the link at the top of this page
• Putting your request in the box provided at the reception
• By post
• By arrangement with the local pharmacy

Please note; registration is required to use our online services. Click here for an application form or by signing up to the NHSApp via your online monbile phone store

Since all prescriptions must be authorised by a doctor, we would ask that you give at least 48 hours (2 working days) notice when requesting a repeat prescription.  It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not run out of medication.

Prescriptions can be collected during the practice's opening hours and the patient's details will be verified before the prescription is handed out.

Prescriptions will not be given to anyone under the age of 14 years.

If a SAE (Self Addressed Envelope) is left with the request, we can post out the prescription.
Please only order the medications you need, to avoid waste and stock piling. Prescriptions should only be ordered within 7 days of their due date. Only in exception circumstances, e.g. holidays, should they be ordered early.

Repeat prescriptions are authorised at the discretion of the doctor. Please also note the review date printed after the list of medications on the right hand side of your prescription- we may refuse to sign prescriptions until you have been reviewed once this date has passed.

We can arrange for your prescription to be collected by your local pharmacist. Once set up, you simply need to order your prescription as usual  and your medicines will be ready for collection at your pharmacist 72 hours later, saving you the need to collect the signed prescription and wait for the pharmacist to dispense it.

To set up this service, simply talk to the receptionists or your pharmacist. All subsequent prescriptions will automatically be sent to your chosen pharmacist.

You may change your pharmacist or cancel this service at any time (obviously not after a prescription has been issued and sent to the pharmacist).

This service is dependant upon your pharmacy participating in this scheme and all repeat prescriptions are at the discretion of the doctor. Please check with your pharmacy or the receptionist can help you with this.

If your repeat medication rarely changes, then you might be suited to a service called “repeat dispensing”. With the Doctor’s agreement, a prescription would be generated that can run for up to a year (usually 6 months). Your chosen pharmacist holds this prescription and you simply contact them before your current supply runs out so that they can give you further medication.

When the last repeat is dispensed, the pharmacy should prompt you to contact the surgery and arrange for a medical review. If you and your doctor agree that repeat dispensing is still appropriate, a new prescription is generated which you can either take back to the same pharmacist, or to any other participating in the scheme.

While the repeat dispensing prescription is still active, which can be for up to 12 months, you will not need to go back to the surgery for further supplies of your usual medicines. If you are otherwise unwell, then you simply arrange to see your doctor in the usual way. Remember that the pharmacist is always available to ask you how you are getting on with your repeat medication and to answer any drug queries that you may have.

Our experience with the scheme so far has been very positive. Patients have told us that it saves them time having to order prescriptions and take them to the pharmacist. It helps us by reducing the pressure on reception and helps the pharmacist who can plan what stocks they need to keep.

Help with NHS costs

In England, around 90% of prescription items are dispensed free. This includes exemptions from charging for those on low incomes, such as:

• those on specific benefits or through the NHS Low Income Scheme
• those who are age exempt
• those with certain medical conditions
• More information is available at NHS Choices

These charges apply in England only. In Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales prescriptions are free of charge.

• Prescription (per item): £9.65
• 12-month prepayment certificate (PPC): £111.60
• 3-month PPC: £31.25

If you will have to pay for four or more prescription items in three months or more than 14 items in 12 months, you may find it cheaper to buy a PPC.

• Telephone advice and order line 0845 850 0030
• General Public - Buy or Renew a PPC On-line

There is further information about prescription exemptions and fees on the NHS website.

In order to make our prescription service safer from 3^rd July 2023 in line with NHS England national guidance, the Partners at Glenpark Medical Practice have agreed the receptionists will no longer take requests for prescriptions over the telephone.

The reasons for this change are as follows:

• To bring us in line with NHS England national guidance regarding safer prescribing.
• The most important reason is that it is safer. Some telephone messages to the surgery are not clear and can involve a great deal of time and effort in checking and chasing up correct drug details and the correct dosages.
• This system will reduce the number of phone calls to the surgery. It will be easier for patients phoning for appointments, advice or in urgent need of help to get through.
• To improve confidentiality on the main reception desk, and allow the receptionist to be more available to patients in the surgery.

This system has been successfully in place nationally for a number of years and we are now bringing our surgery into alignment to provide a safer and more accessible service for you all. If you normally use the prescription line, please start to explore other options (why not use the opportunity to sign up for the NHS App?).

If you are housebound and are not able to use any other prescription request method shown above, please let the receptionist know.  They will discuss your situation with your doctor, and find a suitable solution.

Whenever you go to hospital, make sure that you take an up to date list of your medication with you (or the medication itself). You will find a list of your repeat medication on the right hand side of the prescription.

Whilst no-one likes to think that they may have an accident or fall ill, if there is an emergency it may not always be possible for the hospital to find out what medication you are taking. Perhaps you could consider keeping a list of your medication in your jacket pocket or handbag.

Whenever we prescribe medication, we have to ask "is it safe for us to prescribe this medication for this patient"?

Medications are divided into 4 categories:

• Green - suitable for non-specialists to prescribe
• Green Plus - suitable for non-specialists to prescribe on the advice of a specialist
• Amber - only specialists can prescribe, but prescriptions could be issued by non-specialist if a shared care agreement is in place
• Red - only specialists can prescribe. Under only very exceptional circumstances could a non-specialist issue a prescription for these.

All doctors are specialists in their own field. GPs are considered to be experts in general medicine but don't have the indepth knowledge that a hospital consultant will do in their own specialism. When doctors prescribe medication they are required to do so within their area of expertise. This does mean that there are some medications that only a specialist in that field would have the necessary training to prescribe. Examples of this might include methotrexate which a rheumatologist might have training in but, say, a gynaecologist wouldn't, or cancer treatment drugs which an oncologist could use but a cardiologist couldn't.

Some of these specialist drugs are considered to be fine for a GP to issue on behalf of a consultant so long as there are robust safeguards in place - this is called a "shared care agreement". GPs are under no obligation to enter into a shared care agreement nor to issue drugs that are on the "amber list".

As a practice, we understand that getting prescriptions from a local pharmacist is far more convenient, particularly since hospital computer systems are still unable to send prescriptions electronically to a patients nominated pharmacist in the same way GPs can. When we do so, though we need to ask if it is safe to do so and this depends on a couple of things:

• Do we have the capacity to take on a shared care prescription (since it takes time to set up, check prescriptions for any monitoring before issuing and liaise with specialsits)
• Are there safe monitoring processes in place with the specialist, which includes withdrawing medication if monitoring is missed by the patient?

There are some locally funded initiatives for common shared care drugs such as those used for rheumatoid arthritis or prostate cancer treatment. There are robust safety systems in place with ongoing regular reviews by both the hospital and ourselves.

However, a lot of requests we receive are not funded and do not have the same safe systems in place. These we consider on a case by case basis, but generally we will not issue for the sake of patient safety. It can be confusing because there may be different "rules" for different units.

ADHD medication

A common example currently is requests from private providers to prescribe ADHD medication on behalf of their specialists.

Shared care agreements for ADHD medication, even with CNTW and locally commissioned non-NHS providers (currently only Psychiatry UK is locally recognised), are unfunded. Where we have capacity, we may, at our discretion, agree to enter into a shared care agreement with the locally commissioned services (CNTW and Psychiatry UK). Generally speaking though we will not enter into a shared care agreement with any other provider, even if they are NHS commissioned.

We understand that there is an unprecedented waiting time to access mental health services and as such patients are exercising their right to request referral to a private or third party Right to Choose provider. We cannot vet all of these providers or even confirm that they do indeed have a safe prescribing systems. Some we have been asked to support a referral to are not even UK based, with health information being kept in non-EU countries. Many of these providers make a diagnosis and recommend prescriptions and then discharge back to the GP even after apparently setting up a shared care agreement - which puts patients in an even worse position of starting a medication but then being left without it. In line with best practice, therefore, we cannot enter into a working relationship with these private providers long term.

In short, us supporting a referral to a private provider at the request of a patient should not be taken to constitute an agreement that we will agree to prescribe any recommended medication.

If you have been admitted to hospital, you should receive at least 7 days medication to take home at discharge. This allows time for the hospital to send a discharge letter informing us of the treatment you received and for us to then make the necessary changes. The hospital may send a copy to your regular pharmacist as a safety check.

If you are seen as an out patient, please allow 28 days for us to receive a letter from the specialist. If medication is needed more urgently then the hospital will provide the first month of treatment, or at least contact us directly. 

Generally speaking, if you are being seen by a private clinic you should expect to pay for any medications as part of the private treatment. Where treatment is needed long term, we will normally take on the prescribing so long, as it is within local guidelines.

Taking over prescribing on behalf of a specialist or accepting the recommendations of a consultant is always at our discretion. Whilst we do want to help our patients, safety is always our first consideration, so for example:

• we won't take on prescribing if we don't think that it is safe or in your best interest (though we will usually work in collaboration with the specialist to agree an alternative. This rarely happens and usually is because we have some key information about your medical history that the consultant hadn't been aware of);
• we won't take on prescribing if the suggestions of the specialist are unclear or appear to be incorrect (again, we can normally resolve this by contacting the specialist to clarify);
• we can't take on prescribing of hospital only medication (see shared care above), where treatment is outside the GP contract or where prescribing falls outside of local guidelines (for example, medication isn't on available on the NHS)
• we won't normally take on prescribing where there is lack of clarity around prescribing responsibility or qualifications (for example, no named responsible specialist that we can verify and act as a contact point if we have queries, on unclear guidance on monitoring guidance)

We may make minor changes in accordance with local guidelines (for example, sometimes hospitals get a discount on one brand so prescribe that, but in the community we normally prescribe unbranded medications)