As a practice we are continually looking to find ways of improving efficiency & patient safety. Following a longterm review of our prescribing systems and the instalment of a permanent Practice Based Pharmacist, we have decided to standardise the quantities of repeat medication that will be prescribed at any one time.
For most medication this will now be 8 weeks (56days)
Controlled drugs will remain at 4 weeks (28 days)
It will no longer be possible to order prescriptions early (more than 4 days before they are due to run out) apart from in exceptional circumstances such as long holidays.
You should see your GP at least once a year if you are on long term medication for a review.
We anticipate by doing this that there will be less wastage of medication and more importantly, a significant reduction in the burden of administrative tasks on GPs which will free up more clinical time for patients.
We appreciate that this will take some time for patients to get used to and apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.
Prescribing of Amber List Drugs at the request of a private provider
We have recently received information from the Department of Health regarding the prescribing of Amber List Medications and as a result of this the doctors have concluded that from the I January 2025 we can no longer prescribe Amber List medication unless it has been requested by an NHS consultant. This ensures that the medication is prescribed safely under the NHS Shared Care agreement. We have written to any patients who are already on these medications and not attending an NHS consultant to clarify their position.