PRESCRIPTIONS

Medicines Information

You should always read about your medications prior to taking them. To find out more information on a specific medicine, you can look it up here.

Repeat Prescriptions

Please speak to one of the receptionists about setting up your online repeat prescription account for quick and easy ordering of your repeat prescriptions.

Otherwise, repeat prescriptions can be obtained by telephoning 028 9079 5466 and following the answering machine message (24 hours a day) or online by registering to use the internet appointment prescription booking facility. Please speak to one of the receptionists about this. It saves the practice a lot of time when you can use the online ordering system, and we strongly recommend this is used when possible.

Repeat prescriptions can be collected 48 hours after request or, if ordered on a Friday or over the weekend, on Monday after 5.00 pm or Tuesday before 1.00 pm.

Please do not request medicines that are not on your repeat prescription list in this way. New requests for medicines such as antibiotics or painkillers will require an appointment with one of the doctors to discuss. You will need to phone in the usual way for this.

For long term medications, it is important that you take them as prescribed - if you are having problems with this, you can arrange to speak to one of our practice pharmacists.

You may be contacted by one of our specialist general practice pharmacists who review your medicines and provide expert advice on your treatment plans, including sometimes changing your treatment regime.

Please be aware that if you are requesting a prescription following a hospital appointment with a consultant, they should provide you with a supply of medication if they need you to take this medicine right away. Otherwise, the practice has to wait until your hospital letter comes from the consultant before we can supply the prescription.

Please read about private referrals and subsequent prescriptions here, as special rules apply to these.

'Over the counter medicines'

We cannot prescribe medicines that are available 'over the counter' from a pharmacy or shop. This includes medicines like paracetamol, ibuprofen and anti-histamines. This is due to national government policy see here. The only exception to this is where they are required to manage long-term conditions, such as for individuals in nursing homes.

'Generic' medicines are 'unbranded' versions of commonly available medicines, and are available very cheaply from local shops. They contain the same medication as branded versions - ask your pharmacist for more information.

Prescribing Policies

We have specific prescribing policies with respect to private consultations - see here.

For issues regarding insomnia, we do not routinely prescribe benzodiazepine medications (like diazepam, temazepam, nitrazepam) or sedatives. These can have serious side effects and you can become dependent on them. Your local pharmacist can help you with sleep issues and can give you a short supply of sleeping medicines - you can read about this here.

We also do not prescribe these medicines for flights, hospital scans or dental procedures - the reasons for which are outlined at the end, here.