What is a repeat prescription?
When the doctor puts you on a medication that you need to take for a prolonged period you will be given your medication, together with a repeat slip enabling you to re-order your medication without seeing the doctor. The doctor will decide how many repeats of your medication he would like you to have before reviewing you again in clinic.
We need to receive your request three full working days prior to you requiring your medication. The reason for this is that our dispensary process in excess of 200 repeat prescriptions each day in addition to the prescriptions from surgeries. Added to this we may not stock your medication and will need to obtain it from our supplier or something may have to be checked with the doctor.
Medication can be ordered in the following ways:
- Our online services
- By dropping your slip into the practice
- Post your slip to the practice—please allow extra time for posting
Please remember to tick the items you require.
It is practice policy not to accept requests for repeat medication over the telephone. There are good reasons for not doing this, the number one priority being patient safety.
Please allow six working days for your order to be processed.
Private prescriptions from private consultants
Patients requesting conversion to an NHS Prescription will need to leave the prescription with our dispensary team in order for the Doctor to assess if this is possible. If the item/s is not on the Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group Formulary this may not be possible to convert. Please note it can take up to 24 hours for a decision to be made.
New Patient Prescriptions
New patients registering with the Practice who are on a repeat medication need to provide the dispensary with a print out of medications from their previous surgery. Once the doctor has authorised the repeat medication this can be added to the patient’s records and medication can be issued. If patients are unable to provide the printout from their previous surgery they will need to make an appointment to see a doctor.
Emergency Prescriptions
The dispensary normally require 3 full working days to prepare a prescription. If you have run out please speak with dispensary.
If your repeat issues have run out and there is no Doctor available- in most cases dispensary can give 1 month emergency supply.
If you have run out of contraception and are due a pill check – dispensary will issue a 1 month supply with a request that you book an appointment with a nurse for a pill check.
NHS prescription costs
View the current NHS prescription costs.
Prescription prepayment certificate (PPC)
Save money with a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC).
NHS Low Income Scheme (LIS)
If you have a low income, you may be able to get help with NHS costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme (LIS).
Dispensary
If your address is more than a mile from a chemist (as the crow flies), we can dispense medication for you.
As well as issuing repeat prescriptions and dispensing medication, the dispensary team can deal with any concerns about medication you may have. If they are unable to answer your query immediately, they will contact you once the problem has been fully investigated.
Please note that we are not allowed to dispense prescriptions to patients who live within 1 mile of a chemist.
Collection / Delivery Service: Turvey and Lavendon – Suspended Due To COVID-19
This is a voluntary service run by patients for patients. Volunteer drivers collect requests from Turvey & Lavendon Stores, deliver them to the surgery and take back medication to the stores for patients to collect. If you would like to take advantage of this service you need to mark your repeat slip with a “T” or “L”. If you pay for your prescriptions you need to send your money with your request. If you hold an exemption certificate you need to let dispensary have sight of this in order that they can take a photocopy for their file.
We are grateful to the two stores for their help with this service but would point out that they are just a drop off/pick up point and any problems with your medication need to be dealt with by the Practice dispensary.