Repeat prescriptions are medications which appear on the reverse of your prescription which your doctor would like you to continue on a regular basis.
How to request a Repeat Prescription
Repeat prescriptions may be ordered in several ways:
Order your prescription Online
NHS App
In Person
Fill in a prescription request form or underline the items needed on the tear-off side of your prescription and drop it into the surgery. Please do not order any medications you do not need.
Post
If a stamped addressed envelope is supplied, your prescription can be returned via Royal Mail. Find our postal address.
Emergency Prescription Requests
It is your responsibility to ensure that your repeat medication is ordered in plenty of time. so please allow up to 2 working days for routine repeat prescription requests.
If you have run out of ’emergency medication’ which includes anti-epileptic medication, insulin, inhalers and adrenaline pens for anaphylaxis please let us know as soon as possible. You may need a Telephone Consultation with the GP Clinical Pharmacist or a Doctor
If you run out of medication outside of our opening hours, please call 111 from your phone, who will be able to assist you
New Patient Prescriptions
If you normally take regular repeat medication please book an appointment with a Health Care Assistant before you need to request more medication. When you attend your appointment please bring with you a copy of your repeat prescription slip from your previous GP or a list of your medication and the packaging. It can take a week or two for your records to be delivered to us from your previous GP surgery
Please allow up to 2 working days for a prescription request to be processed
Prescribing Wisely
Please see the link below for further information on requesting your repeat prescriptions and medicines and products that can be bought over the counter without a prescription:
Prescriptions Information
Requesting Online
You are able to request your repeat prescription via our online services; SystmOnline.
Why does it take 2 working days to process a repeat prescription request?
At The Southall Medical Centre prescriptions are requested every day.
Our prescription clerk has to check your medical records to ensure that your medication request is on your repeat prescription, it then goes to our Clinical Pharmacist or Doctor to authorise and ensure that it is still appropriate for you. Once authorised, our reception team will file your prescription ready for collection.
Delays may occur if any medication requested is not on your repeat prescription list or if your medication request differs from what is on your list. Your doctor may also request that you make an appointment to have your medication reviewed.
Non-Repeat Prescriptions
Please book a Telephone Consultation with the GP Clinical Pharmacist to request medication that is not on your repeat list but may be needed on an ad-hoc basis e.g. hay-fever medication.
If you have an on-going problem and would like another prescription of a medication previously prescribed to you by a doctor but not on your repeat list you should also book a Telephone Consultation with the GP Clinical Pharmacist
Written requests for non-repeat medication may take more than 2 working days to process as the doctor may wish to speak with you
Nominate a Pharmacy
Your GP can send your prescription straight to a pharmacy/chemist electronically, to save you coming to the surgery to pick it up. In order for this to happen you need to nominate a pharmacy/chemist. To do this please log in to the online service, SystmOnline . You can then pick up your medication from there, and it will save you a trip to the surgery. For more information, please visit the NHS Electronic Prescription Service Information Page.
Paper prescriptions can also be sent straight to your preferred pharmacy.
Prescription Costs
Visit NHS Choices for information on:
Prescription charges
Who is entitled for free prescriptions
Medical exemptions (certain diseases will exempt you from paying for your prescription)
Free prescriptions for cancer patients, renal dialysis patients and pregnant women
Help for those on low income.
Private Prescriptions
A GP in the surgery at which you are registered can only provide a private prescription if the medication is not available on the NHS.
A private prescription is not written on an official NHS prescription and so is not paid for by the NHS.
The cost of a private prescription is met wholly by the patient and is dictated by the cost of the medicine plus the pharmacists charge for supplying it.
A prescription is a legal document for which the doctor, who has issued and signed it, is responsible. A doctor you see privately can’t issue an NHS prescription.