“All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy.”  Paracelsus, 15th Century physician and astrologer

Why does it take 48 hours for my repeat prescription to be ready?

The medicines we prescribe are extremely powerful and we need to check it is safe to issue them in every case. This is to try and minimise medication related side-effects and medication interactions, which can be unpleasant and even dangerous. Sometimes the issue of a particular medication will need to be queried with the doctor.

All this takes time and we want to be sure we get it right.

Why does my medicine have two different names?

This can be very confusing. All medicines have a generic name such as atorvastatin, which is the name of the substance itself, but many also have a brand name, such as Lipitor, which is the name given to the substance by a particular manufacturer. Generally, we try to prescribe by generic name, but when you get your medicine packet it may be plastered with the manufacturer's brand name. When ordering repeat prescriptions, please try to use whatever name for your medicine appears on your printed repeat prescription sheet, attached to the prescription itself.

Why does my medication need to be reviewed before it can be issued?

All repeat medication is put on a six or twelve month review cycle. This is to ensure that we check that the medication is still appropriate and that all necessary blood tests, blood pressure checks, ECGs or other tests have been carried out.

Your doctor my well be able to review your medication simply by looking through your notes on the computer. However, you may be requested to come in and see the doctor or nurse for a consultation or some tests. Even if this is the case, we will issue you enough medication to be going on with in the meantime.

Why will you only give me 28 days’ worth of medication?

Don’t blame us, blame the government! We are under very strong pressure by the NHS to prescribe only 28 days’ worth of medication at a time. There is good evidence that this reduces wastage across the NHS, but we do understand that it can be aggravating and inconvenient for patients on stable medication. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it.

The only exceptions to this rule are for oral contraception and HRT, for which we can dispense three months’ worth at a time. We can also occasionally dispense up to two months’ worth of other repeat medication for holidays etc.

Why can’t I get through on the repeat prescription phone line?

Many practices do not have a repeat prescription phone line at all and in fact we are strongly discouraged by the authorities from operating one. This is because most of the errors which occur when prescriptions are issued occur as a result of misunderstandings over the phone.

We recognize that it is useful for our rural population to be able to order over the phone and so we keep the line open for a limited time, but we would encourage you as strongly as possible not to use the phone and instead to order your medication in one of the following ways:

• Hand the paper repeat slip into the surgery

• Post the paper repeat slip into the surgery

• Hand the paper repeat slip to the delivery driver

• Use our swish, secure website ordering service

Why has my medication been changed?

There’s usually a good reason for it and we try to let patients know why. If you have a question about your medication which the dispensing staff cannot answer, please phone in and ask one of the doctors who will be pleased to answer it for you.

How can I get my medication delivered?

If you are classed as a dispensing patient, which means you live more than one mile from the surgery and pick up your medication from us rather than the chemist, you may request for your medication to be delivered to your home or to one of our outlying collection points. This is a free, volunteer-run service. Ask at the surgery or see here for further details.