We are two weeks away from the long Easter bank holiday weekend, when GP practices will be closed, so it is important to remind everyone who need medications on repeat prescriptions to order them in in good time to see them through the bank holidays.
GP surgeries are often inundated with requests just before bank holiday periods and can need up to five working days to turn around a prescription request. You can use the NHS App or your practice website to order medications. Patients who are unable to do that can contact their GP practice directly during their opening times to discuss how to get their repeat prescription.
Before you put in your request check what medicines you are using and if you do need to order them all again, don’t run the risk of wasting medicines. Unused medicines go out of date and might not work as intended, meaning your care might be compromised.
In an emergency if your GP practice is closed and you have run out of medication, please contact your local pharmacy for advice. As a last resort only, NHS 111 will supply emergency repeat medications during the out of hours period; however, this will only be done in clinically exceptional circumstances. You are likely to only get a limited number of days’ supply depending on the medication and will need to arrange your medicines again via your GP practice. Our local NHS 111 service is seeing an increase in calls for medicines that people should have ordered as a repeat prescription, which is impacting on how the service can respond to people who have an urgent medical need.
Pharmacies are a great place for advice on medicines and can also help with some minor ailments more information on how your local pharmacy can help on our website.