Urgent Medication Requests
A request for an urgent medication is not processed in the routine way by our Receptionists, but by our On-Call Doctor. This takes them away from urgent clinical queries, and increases the risk of a prescribing error.
We have made a decision that unless your request falls within a certain narrow range of emergency drugs, shown below, then your request will be processed according to the routine repeat prescribing policy. This ensures safe prescribing and optimizes access to the clinical team.
The following are regarded as emergency drugs. These are drugs where timely access is important, so GPs will work outside of the usual system to ensure continuity of supply:
Emergency Drug List
- Drugs for patients with Cancer requiring medicines at the end of life
- Patients with Heart Failure – these include most “ water tablets “
- Insulins
- Medicines for Epilepsy
- Medicines for Asthma
- Warfarin and New Anticoagulants
- Epipens and other emergency allergy injections
All other requests will be processed routinely. This policy has been implemented to protect Doctors’ time for more clinically urgent matters, and we believe this will help us to provide you with a more safe and robust prescribing system.
Urgent Prescriptions via local pharmacies
If you forget to obtain a prescription for repeat medication and thus run out of important medicines, you may be able to get help from your Pharmacy. Under the Urgent Provision of Repeat Medication Service, Pharmacists may be able to supply you with a further cycle of a previously repeated medicine, without having to get a prescription from your GP.
If you have run out of important medication, telephone your usual Pharmacy to check that they offer this service; if they don’t, they may either direct you to another Pharmacy who does provide it, or ask you to phone 111 where you can request details of a local Pharmacy that provides the service.
You must then take with you to the relevant Pharmacy, proof of both your identification and of your medication (for example, your repeat prescription list or the empty box which should have your details printed on it). Please note that controlled drugs and antibiotics are not provided through this service, you will need to ring 111 for these.
If you receive stoma products from your Pharmacy or other supplier and/or receive items such as continence products, please ensure you have sufficient supplies as you may encounter difficulties in obtaining these over Bank Holidays, or when the Surgery is closed.