Prescribing Policy

In line with other practices locally and NHS guidance, we adopt a policy of only prescribing 28 days of medication at a time. This applies for all patients.

One of the main drivers behind this decision is to reduce waste in the NHS, it is estimated that up to £1 million of medication is wasted in West Berkshire each year due to over-ordering and unused medication. As a practice, we also feel this is much safer and will allow us to monitor medication over-use and under-use more easily. It will hopefully reduce any confusion and the number of mistakes made by patients, especially the elderly, when they take their medicine, as patients will be less likely to have multiple partly filled containers of medicine at home.

Prescription Costs

As of 1 April 2024, the NHS prescription charge remains the same at £9.65 per item.

If you need multiple prescription items or are prescribed certain HRT medicines, a Prescription Payment Certificate (PPC) could save you money. Find out more at:

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturday, 9am to 3pm.

Certain patient groups are entitled to free NHS prescriptions and certain items (e.g. contraceptives) are free-of-charge on the NHS. To check if you are eligible for free NHS prescriptions, visit: www.nhs.uk/healthcosts

Prescription Requests

Repeat Prescription Requests may be submitted in the following ways:

Please note: you will have to first register for this service. If you are unable to do this, please ask for help at reception.

  • By personal attendance at the surgery, using the counterfoil repeat prescription slip issued with your last medication.
  • By post, by sending in the counterfoil repeat prescription slip.

Over the Counter Medications

Please note that due to the updated NHS policy we are no longer routinely prescribing over the counter medications on prescription. OTC medications requested by specialists for long term conditions will be placed on repeat prescriptions. More information can be found via this link:

Medication Reviews

Patients prescribed repeat medications require an annual medicines review to ensure that all your medicines continue to be appropriate and safe. You will be invited around your month of birth to discuss your medication with a GP, pharmacist, or pharmacy technician. This is a great opportunity to discuss your medications, ask any questions you may have and to assess whether we need to change any of your medicines.

Failure to comply with monitoring for your medications, or failure to attend your annual review may result in your medication supply being limited until this has been completed. We have a responsibility to ensure that your medications are monitored and prescribed in accordance with best practice. We appreciate your support in ensuring that this is completed.

Further Information

  • We are a dispensing practice and unless you live within 1 mile of a chemist (as the crow flies) you will be able to obtain your medicines from the surgery.
  • Please allow at least 5 working days (excluding weekends, bank holidays and half day closing) for your request to be dispensed. We will send a text message to let you know that your medication is ready to collect. It would help us if you could collect your medications after 10am. Please note: At busy periods this may have to be extended to 7 working days.
  • During very busy times of the year such as over the Christmas/New Year period, Easter and Bank holiday weekends or when there may be stock availability issues, please allow even longer.
  • The Electronic Prescription Services is now available at both our sites. It requires the patient to consent to the introduction of two-way sharing between the dispensing and the prescribing site. The patient should nominate a dispensing site, written consent is not required. Patients can change their nominated dispenser at any point within the electronic repeat dispensing cycle. All outstanding electronic repeat dispensing prescriptions will be transferred to their new nominated dispenser.
  • Any prescriptions which have already been downloaded to the previously nominated dispenser can be returned to the NHS Spine to be pulled down by the newly nominated dispenser. The previous dispensing token, for the previous issue, can be reprinted, given to the patient and used to retrieve subsequent issues at the newly nominated pharmacy. A reprinted token can also be issued by the clinical prescribing system if required.
  • Please order when you still have a few days of medication in hand but no more than 2 weeks to allow for possible delays. We do not process prescription requests earlier than two weeks in advance.
  • Please be patient with us if there is a delay in obtaining your prescription. This is usually the doctor reviewing the medication request or the practice making sure that the prescription is correct.
  • Be prepared for practice staff to ask questions about your medication when you order a prescription.
  • Do not stockpile medicines at home, only order those items that you will need until your next prescription is obtained.
  • Please return any unwanted medication to the dispensary. We can dispose of them safely for you.
  • Sadly, we are no longer able to dispense special order foods (e.g., coeliac options, food supplements or baby formulas) as we do not have the storage facilities to accommodate this, but we will happily send a script to the pharmacy of your choice.

How do I get emergency medication when my GP is closed?

If you do not have a prescription and run out of medicine, you can get an emergency supply from a pharmacy without a prescription. Take an old prescription or the medicine’s packaging with your name on it to show the pharmacist.

You will be assessed by the pharmacist to find out:

  • If you need the medicine immediately.
  • Who previously prescribed the medicine (to make sure they are a trusted source).
  • What dose of the medicine would be appropriate for you to take.

The pharmacist needs to know the answers to all the above questions before they can supply a prescription-only medicine without a prescription in an emergency. They will keep a record of your details, the medicine they provide and the nature of the emergency.

If the pharmacist is not satisfied that the medicine and dose is appropriate for you, they may not supply the medicine. You may need to pay for this service and medicine, even if you do not normally, because they are being provided without a prescription. This may vary between pharmacies.

Alternatively, you may visit your nearest Walk-in-Centre. For more details visit here: Out-of-hours-medicines – NHS (www.nhs.uk).