Requests for prescriptions will not be accepted over the telephone, because mistakes can happen. Clearly written requests should be posted to the surgery or posted in the white post-box at the main entrance of the surgery (which is frequently checked). The prescription may be collected 48 hours (2 working days) later. Alternatively, if you leave a stamped addressed envelope with us, we can post your prescription back to you.
We have also established a pharmacy collection service with several local chemists. We can arrange for your choice of chemist to collect your prescription from the surgery and prepare it for you to collect directly from them. If you wish to make use of this facility then please indicate your choice of chemist on your prescription request.
Participating Chemists:
- Salmina (next door)
- Barai Chemist (Erskine Rd, by the Butterchurn pub)
- Lotus Chemist (by the Gasometer)
- Anna Pharmacy (The Circle)
- Rosehill Pharmacy (next to Superdrug)
- I.S. Pharmacy (Rosehill)
pharmacy telephone Late Opening=Rosehill 10pm. Sainsbury's Merton/PurleyWy 11pm.
Out of Hours Chemist Rota Palliative Care Chemists (cancer)
Occasionally the doctor will ask to see you before sending you any further prescriptions.
Finally, please keep in mind that it takes us 48 hours to process your prescriptions. If the chemist needs to order your drugs, or if you are relying on the Royal Mail for return post of prescriptions, then you will have to allow more time.
With careful planning there should be no reason for any patient to run out of medication. But if this happens, your usual chemist will often dispense a small amount of medication on the promise of a prescription to follow. There is a charge for this.
Advantages of Endorsing Prescriptions
Prescriptions sometimes do get lost. We are sometimes asked to do a duplicate. But that is where the problem lies! We cannot simply re-print a prescription. We are obliged to make sure that the patient is not hoarding medicines to take an overdose, not hoarding medicines to take abroad or to sell, and that the prescription hasn't already been presented to a chemist. This involves a search and generally a consultation with the patient, and lots of embarrassing questions. It is a matter of clinical responsibility.
If the prescription has found its way to a chemist by mistake, or maybe a relative collected it and took it there, then the chemist will dispense that medicine. If no one knows to collect it, then then the full cost of that medicine, which may run into hundreds of pounds, will be billed to our already overspent budget, which will mean we cannot prescribe medicines that we wish to the rest of our patients.
Sometimes a chemist hasn't got all your medicines in stock, and will give you a months supply and ask you to come back for the rest. Quite understandably, patients may forget to go back for the rest of the medicines, and instead request the doctor to make out a new prescription later that month. Those uncollected medicines will be billed to us.
Knowing which chemist the prescription will have gone to helps us. All we need to do is ring that chemist to check if some or all of the medicines were dispensed, and then we can sort out a prescription. If the prescription was unmarked with a particular chemist, then it is impossible for us to check. It is like a open cheque rather than a crossed cheque. So, endorsing prescriptions is generally to everyone's advantage.