Non-repeat medicines, which you may have only occasionally, can be requested by E-Consult and we may need to contact you.
Hospital Outpatient prescriptions are commonly given as requests for the GP to prescribe. These are not urgent (if they are, the hospital doctor should prescribe these). Sometimes the prescription will be intended for dispensing at the hospital pharmacy, especially if the need is urgent or the drugs are for hospital supply only. Please check carefully – sometimes we are not able to supply particular drugs on a GP prescription.
Private prescriptions from another doctor should normally be cashed at a pharmacy. We are not obliged to convert these to NHS prescriptions though if we have referred you we may be able to at the doctor’s discretion. The responsibility for starting a new medication sits with the doctor prescribing.
Once you are established on the medicines, we can provide repeat prescriptions on the NHS as normal, provided we have received written information from that doctor and that we judge the prescription is appropriate. Some prescriptions may be for medication which is not in our practice drug formulary and we may substitute it for something similar.
Over the counter medicines at the pharmacy will treat many important conditions. They do not not need to be prescribed by a Doctor and you can save yourself a lot of money as many are cheaper than the Prescription Charge. Pharmacists are highly trained in giving sensible advice about self-help for minor illness, please ask them or take a look at this NHS information about pharmacists.
Taking your medication abroad may require you to take a letter of authorisation with you, even in Europe. Every country has its own rules and it can be complex and you could find yourself in trouble. Make sure you check in good time. Here are NHS details on taking medication abroad. The maximum we can give is for 3 months.
Medication bought online can sometimes be dangerous. The NHS has some good advice on the taking care with online medicines