A repeat prescription should be the quiet part of managing a long term condition. When it goes wrong it is usually for one of three reasons: ordering too late, ordering things you no longer take, or medicines arriving at a pharmacy you are not going to visit.
Order at the right time
Aim to order when you have around a week of medicine left. That gives the surgery time to authorise and gives us time to source anything that is in short supply. Ordering much earlier than that can cause the surgery to reject the request.
Keep the list accurate
- Only reorder what you are actually taking
- Tell us if a dose has changed since your last collection
- Mention anything you buy over the counter or online
- Flag side effects rather than quietly stopping a medicine
- Ask for a review if you are taking four or more items
Nominate one pharmacy
Nominating Safys Chemist means your electronic prescriptions come straight to us. Nothing needs collecting from the surgery, and we can have items ready before you arrive. You can change your nomination whenever you like, and it does not affect your GP registration.
Most missed doses we hear about are not forgetfulness. They are a prescription that was ordered two days too late.
Storage and disposal
Keep medicines out of direct sunlight and away from steamy bathrooms. Anything that needs refrigerating should go in the main body of the fridge, not the door. Bring unused or expired medicines back to us for safe disposal rather than putting them in household waste.
Travelling with medicines
Order early, split supplies between bags, and keep everything in its original labelled packaging. Ask us for a letter if you are carrying controlled medicines or injectable treatments.
We are here to check
If you are unsure what any of your medicines are for, ask. Our team on Melton Road can go through the whole list with you, explain what each one does and speak to your surgery if something does not look right.
