The easiest way to order repeat prescriptions is to:

• Log in or set up an account with the NHS 
• Nominate a pharmcy for your prescription to be sent electronically  

The NHS app allows you access to online services of your local practice.

These may include arranging appointments, repeat medication, secure messages, medical records and updating your details.

If you have a medication query you can use our online forms.

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:

• on the app or website where you order repeat prescriptions
• at a pharmacy of your choice that accepts repeat prescriptions

If you require medication that is not on your usual repeat prescription, please complete a query request using the online form or reception can support you.

Please note: there is no guarantee that the doctor will prescribe the medication for you, in which case you may need an appointment to see a doctor to discuss the matter.

As qualified healthcare professionals, pharmacists can offer advice on minor illnesses such as:

• coughs
• colds
• sore throats
• tummy trouble
• aches and pains

They can also advise on medicine that you can buy without a prescription. Find out more or search for a phamacy.

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.

The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) is an NHS service. It gives you the chance to change how your GP sends your prescription to the place you choose to get your medicines or appliances from.

What does this mean for you?

You will have more choice about where to get your medicines from because they can be collected from a pharmacy near to where you live, work or shop.

For further information on:

• Choosing a pharmacy or other dispenser
• Cancelling or changing your choice of pharmacist or dispenser
• What can I do if I'm unhappy with the process?

Go to Electronic prescriptions .nhs.uk.

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.

• Go to Medicines A to Z (nhs.uk)

If you would like to speak to someone at the GP surgery about your prescription please fill in our online form.

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.

ADHD medication from a private provider

Please be aware that if you opt for a referral to a private provider and receive a diagnosis, we will not be able to prescribe ADHD medication or arrange monitoring. This is because private providers may not offer the same follow-up or monitoring as NHS specialists. Our practice does not enter into shared care agreements with private providers. Therefore, obtaining ADHD medication must be managed entirely through the private provider, and you should check the costs of ongoing treatment, including prescriptions and annual reviews.

Prescribing of sedatives for patients undergoing radiological procedures – eg CT scans or MRI scans

Patients often ask if we can prescribe sedatives prior to radiological procedure eg CT scans or MRI scan.

It is NOT safe for GP practices to prescribe sedatives for patients, and we do not do this even if asked by the hospital to do so.

Safe and effective analgesia and sedation should be delivered by an appropriately trained and credentialed team with good access to anaesthetics, pre-procedure assessment, sedation plan and checklist, with appropriate monitoring and availability of resuscitation equipment and reversal agents.

Sedated patients should be regularly monitored, and we are aware of a case where a GP-provided sedative was given, the patient not monitored, and subsequently had a respiratory arrest in an MRI machine.

Practices are not required to prescribe this, and we would highlight the following:

1. Benzodiazepines such at 2mg diazepam are probably sub-therapeutic for most adults for any effective sedation.  Conversely anxiolytics can have an idiosyncratic response in patients, and even very small doses can cause increased agitation in some groups of patients.
2. A patient may take a sedative ‘an hour’ before their assumed procedure, to then attend the hospital to find their procedure has been delayed, therefore the timing of the anxiolytic being sub optimal.
3. GPs are not regularly involved, skilled, trained or appraised in sedation skills.
4. Hospital consultants, both those requesting imaging and those providing it, have access to the same prescribing abilities as GPs. If a patient needs a certain medication to enable an investigation to go ahead, they are best positioned to provide a prescription, either through the hospital pharmacy or a hospital prescription.
5. The Royal College of Radiologists‘ own guidelines on sedation for imaging makes no mention of GP involvement or provision of low dose anxiolytics and stresses the importance of experienced well trained staff involved and the monitoring of sedated patients:  “Safe and effective analgesia and sedation should be delivered by an appropriately trained and credentialed team with good access to anaesthetics, pre-procedure assessment, sedation plan and checklist, with appropriate monitoring and availability of resuscitation equipment and reversal agents.” (see this link for more information).

To help patients avoid situations where they are not adequately sedated for a procedure or are unmonitored due to the procedure team being unaware of consumed sedation provided by general practice, we would decline requests even if the hospital asks to do so for prescribing in those circumstances. Where the referral for imaging is made, it may be useful to highlight that an assessment for support during the procedure by the radiology team may be beneficial on the referral form as well