Prescriptions

Prescriptions

Use the links below to find out how to easily order and manage your prescription

Ordering repeat prescriptions

The easiest ways to order repeat prescriptions are:

These accounts show you all your repeat medicine and dosage and you can choose the ones you need.

You can also:

  • calling at the surgery from 8.00am to 6.30pm

We do not take repeat prescription requests over the phone or email

Private prescriptions are medications which your private Doctor or Consultant has recommended for you on a private prescription form. A prescription for medication is a legal document for which the doctor who has issued and signed it is personally responsible. A private prescription may include drugs or other items not currently recommended by the NHS for your condition or specify a particular brand of medication.
Prescribing responsibility is not simply transferable. This means an NHS doctor – who hasn’t had the benefit of your private consultation/ examination – cannot simply convert a private prescription to an NHS prescription. Equally, a doctor you have paid to see privately can’t issue a prescription on the NHS.

It is Gold Street Surgery’s policy not to convert private prescriptions to NHS prescriptions.  A private prescription is not written on an official NHS prescription and will not be paid for by the NHS. The costs of a private prescription must be met wholly by the patient, and is dictated by the cost of the medicine plus the pharmacist’s charge for supplying it.
Similarly, hospital prescriptions should be dispensed by the hospital, NOT brought to the surgery.

There are also some medications which your NHS doctor may recommend (such as travel vaccinations), but for which the NHS does not pay. The patient has to pay for them, even though they may be given by the surgery, to recover the costs of the medicine, administration and staff time.

Collecting your prescription

Please allow five working days before collection and make allowances for weekends and public holidays. Where possible, give exact drug names when ordering. You will need to choose a pharmacy to collect your prescription from. We call this nominating a pharmacy.

You will need to choose a pharmacy to collect your prescription from. We call this nominating a pharmacy.

You can change your nominated pharmacy at any time:

  • on the app or website where you order repeat prescriptions
  • at your GP practice
  • at any pharmacy that accepts repeat prescriptions

Dispensary

For our dispensing patients (you must live more than a mile from the nearest registered pharmacy), the dispensary at Gold Street Surgery is open from 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday, subject to staff availability. Dispensed medication and repeat prescriptions can be collected at any time within Surgery Opening Hours from reception. For further information, please ask a member of our dispensary staff who will be pleased to help. They can be contacted direct on 01799 582623.

Electronic Prescription Service

From March 2022 we adopted the Electronic Prescription Service. This means that most repeat prescriptions will be able to be sent to your nominated pharmacy (if you’re a non-dispensing patient) by a secure electronic system. This means a quicker and more streamlined service than the former system, where a paper prescription was printed off and physically given to the pharmacy.
Safety is still assured, as all prescriptions are reviewed by a GP before being sent.

If you order your repeat medication online, this makes the process of ordering and receiving a repeat prescription completely paperless. You will still get a paper order form from the pharmacist when you pick up your medication if you prefer.

Questions about your prescription

If you have questions about your medicine, your local pharmacists can answer these. They can also answer questions on medicines you can buy without a prescription.

The NHS website has information on how your medicine works, how and when to take it, possible side effects and answers to your common questions.

Go to Medicines A to Z (nhs.uk)

Medication reviews

If you’ve been asked to have a medication review, it’s often not necessary to speak to a doctor. The surgery has a small team of Clinical Pharmacists – specially trained clinical professionals – able to carry out these reviews on behalf of our GPs. They have full access to your medical history, and are bound by the same rules of confidentiality and discretion as our other clinical staff. Their role is to advise our GPs and Nurses on the latest advances in medicines and to advise patients on how to get the best from them. It is often quicker and more convenient to get an appointment with them than with a GP. This also frees our GPs for the most urgent clinical reviews and treatment.

Prescription charges

Find out more about prescription charges (nhs.uk).

What to do with old medicines

Take it to the pharmacy you got it from or bring it in to the surgery. Do not put it in your household bin or flush it down the toilet.

About pharmacists

As qualified healthcare professionals, pharmacists can offer advice on minor illnesses such as:

  • coughs
  • colds
  • sore throats
  • tummy trouble
  • aches and pains

They can also advise on medicine that you can buy without a prescription.

Many pharmacies are open until late and at weekends. You do not need an appointment.

Most pharmacies have a private consultation room where you can discuss issues with pharmacy staff without being overheard.