Bradley’s Practice : Prescription Order Policy

Repeat prescriptions may be requested in writing only.

Please remember it is your responsibility to ensure you order your repeat medication on time and allow adequate time for your request to be processed. Prescriptions take 72 hours to process, plus the additional time the pharmacy requires in obtaining and assembling this safely for you also.

Requests can be submitted via the post box in the surgery, the NHS app or our prescriptions email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Requests should be for repeat medications only; anything that is not on your repeat will need to be reviewed by a clinician so please complete an eConsult in this instance, including details of symptoms/reasons why it is needed.

Please note if ordered via the email address above then no reply will be given, as the volume received does not permit this. The email is for prescription orders only, it is not manned by a clinician and therefore medical attention cannot be sought via this method.

Urgent Requests

Due to the increasing numbers of patients requesting their prescription on an urgent basis, the practice has needed to instate an Urgent Prescription Policy.

Requests for prescriptions outside the normal prescription protocol impacts significantly on both doctors and administration staff time as well as increasing the risk of a medication prescribing error. Interruptions to the doctors during the day delays the appointments of other patients and overall impacts the service we can deliver.

Please note we are unable to provide prescriptions if you require medication whilst outside of the UK. You will need to seek medical assistance wherever you are.

We can in some instances send a prescription electronically to other parts of the UK, if you require any of your medications whilst out of the area temporarily. If you do request for us to send a prescription to a pharmacy out of our area, our system will be automatically updated to reflect this change.  It is your responsibility to inform us when you return and request for your records to be reverted back to your usual pharmacy preference.

Unless a medication is clinically urgent, requests will be processed routinely (over 72 hours). The member of staff you speak to will be able to advise you if your medication can be ordered urgently – this is based on a list devised by a clinician and is not the decision of the reception and administration team.

We will not issue urgent prescriptions for items that can be bought over the counter or for non-essential medication and your medication will be processed following the normal repeat prescription processing time of 72 hours.

If the Doctor feels that your medication cannot be missed, the item will be issued as required. We reserve the right to refuse to provide an urgent prescription to those patients who request in this manner on a repeated basis.

It is critical that we manage prescription requests in this way to support our patients fairly and safely, and to enable the surgery administration team and GPs, to work uninterrupted.
Patients who repeatedly request their prescriptions on an urgent basis will receive a letter warning them that they must comply with the Practice’s Policy or potentially face removal from the Practice.

Patients who do not comply with the policy will on the first occasion receive a confirmation via text or letter reminding them of the process, and on any subsequent occasion will receive a letter from the practice clearly stating the process and consequences of ignoring the policy.

In line with our standard prescription request policy no more than 3 months’ worth of medication will be provided unless it is a contraceptive pill. This also aligns to BCUHB recommendations to reduce medication wastage and ensure patient safety.

Please respect our staff

• Our reception and administrative staff will always follow this policy, and they are not authorised to make any exceptions.
• Staff are not allowed to interrupt the on-call GP during surgery.
• This policy is put in place to protect our patients and our staff, and we will not tolerate any abuse to or of our staff as they are following policy.
• Abuse of staff in relation to this, or any other, policy may result in you being removed from the practice list.
• Urgent requests are only authorised for emergency medications that are needed within 24 hours to prevent the patient from becoming seriously ill.
• You can contact 111 out of hours to access a prescription out of hours if you really need to.