Prescriptions

Depending on your medical condition you may need to have a review every 3, 6 or 12 months.

This review does not always have to be your GP. You may speak to a Clinical Pharmacist and you will be guided by our receptionist as to the most appropriate clinician for you. Not all reviews have to be done in a face to face consultation, some can be done electronically (a review of your notes) or others on the telephone. We are trying to be safe and time efficient.

The medication ‘review date’ is set for your birthday month. This is so as to be a helpful reminder to you, and also helps us to stagger our patients reviews across the year. Your Pharmacist will be able to remind you of the review date.

When starting a new medication you may need more frequent monitoring until your condition has stabilised and so the table below may not apply to you.

Ideally you should never have to request a prescription urgently as you should be requesting your repeat prescription when you have 10 working days remaining (not before) allowing enough time to collect your prescription and for your pharmacist to dispense it. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have requested your medication within the appropriate time frame and it is not acceptable to expect that prescriptions are signed on demand or on the same day because you have run out.

It will be at the clinician’s discretion as to whether requests for urgent prescriptions can be granted and this must be on a case by case basis.

You can call 111 and ask for an emergency supply of medication.

Each prescription should be for no longer than two months. This is line with local guidance.

Some medications can only be issued for shorter periods of time for safety reasons, you will be made aware of this at the time by the clinician.

Sometimes we reduce the number of days of medication we can issue because you may be over due your medication review. This happens when you may fail to respond to three requests to come in for your necessary medication checks. In these scenarios we do write messages with your prescription to your pharmacist. This is for safety reasons ONLY.

Inhalers, creams or ointments, injectable medications and dressings or devices will also ONLY be prescribed in two month quantities.

Medication prescribed as an ‘acute’ prescription may not be repeatedly prescribed by a GP. This is often because the prescription was only ever intended for short term use. Ongoing use of medications does require monitoring and discussion with your GP so your request may be rejected until the necessary checks are undertaken. Please speak to our receptionist to find out what the next steps may be for you, it does vary from case to case.

I was prescribed a medication or had a change in dose when I went to see my specialist (either NHS or private)

In the event that you have been advised to change your medication regime (whether that is a new medication, dose change or change in the timings or frequency) your GP will require a document from the specialist before ANY adjustments can be made to your prescription.

It takes time for letters to reach us, often one month. Therefore, to avoid delays please request a prescription from your specialist at your appointment and go to the hospital pharmacy for your first months’ supply. If you have a copy of your hospital letter you may bring it for the surgery to take a copy.

Any prescriptions issued outside the GP surgery either at the hospital or privately (FP10 forms) will not be converted to a prescription by your GP you must get this prescription from the hospital pharmacy. This reduces the risk of delaying any medication changes deemed necessary and also gives your GP time to review the letters properly. The first prescription will not be issued by your GP.

If the medication prescribed by your specialist is required on a long term basis, we will be able to issue subsequent prescriptions assuming the following:

 The medication is licensed and suitable for prescription by a General Practitioner

• The medication is listed on the Barnet NHS formulary
• A letter from your consultant detailing the drug and dosage schedule, and confirming that you have been fully counselled about the medication. This letter must have been received by the Practice. Additionally your GP prescriber must be satisfied that is safe for you to have

For specialist hospital prescriptions: 

In some cases we may write back to your specialist if we have queries about their choice of medication (for reasons stated above). This is because sometimes the specialist may not be aware of all your medications or conditions, or the particular medication they have requested may not be one that the North Central London Integrated Care Service have approved for GPs to prescribe. Please bear with us as this can take time which is why your prescriptions during this time may have to be provided by your hospital specialist.

For GP prescriptions:

This may be because one or more of the essential checks that you may have to undertake is outstanding or you have requested your medication too early..

When you request your medication state the start and end dates of your holiday so we can ensure an appropriate supply is provided. The maximum we will supply regardless of the length of your holiday is 3 months.

If your medications are all out of sync then please request an appointment with our clinical pharmacist at the practice so we can bring everything inline.