If your doctor has advised that you need to continue your medications, it will be put on a repeat prescription. You will need to monitor how much you have left and request 7-10 days before you run out if you need more.

If you need to order supplies of a prescribed medicine that you take regularly, there are several ways to do this. You need to allow 2 full working days for your request to be checked, processed and reviewed by a doctor and we will send the prescription to the (local) pharmacy of your choice. Please allow a further 24 hours for the pharmacy to fill your prescription.

How to order repeat medicines

• NHS App (Anyone can download via android or iOS)
• Via the practice prescription ordering email address – FrimleyICB.PrincesGarden.prescriptions@nhs.net
• At your pharmacy – Complete the repeat slip and hand to your pharmacist

ALSO ASK US ABOUT ERD – Electronic Repeat Dispensing
If the GP approves you can have your medications sent automatically each month in batches
(not all medication can be sent this way, ask the prescriptions team for more info).

Due to safety reasons, we cannot accept telephone requests for repeat prescriptions.

You will need to nominate a pharmacy for us to send the prescription electronically – we no longer routinely print the prescriptions out.

We do not take prescription requests over the telephone because of the potential for errors and to maximise efficiency.

How repeat medicines are issued.

Prescribed medicines have a distinct legal status: they must be issued by a doctor and there is a legal responsibility for the doctor in ensuring that the prescription is safe and appropriate. The surgery issues over 300,000 items each year.

Understanding what happens when you request a prescription may help explain why we ask for 2 working days to process your request.

Your request arrives at the surgery and is passed to our full-time prescribing team.

One of the team will load your medical record and check that the medicines are currently prescribed (we regularly review if medicines are being requested and cancel those that do not seem to be being used or are no longer safe or appropriate).

They will use the computer system to check that they have not been ordered too soon and then will request a prescription. They will process any safety alerts the computer may generate and, if necessary discuss with the duty prescribing doctor.

The duty prescribing doctor doing all their other normal duties, will work through the prescriptions. They will read each prescription, check the quantity prescribed and that the prescription is safe and appropriate and does not interact with other prescriptions. If necessary they will review the medical records before signing the prescription.

The pharmacy then needs to check the prescription safety, prepares the prescription, labels it and checks the right medicine is being dispensed. The pharmacy will dispense from stock or may need to order the item from their warehouse.

Let’s get in sync!

We issue prescription medicines in quantities of one or two month supplies. We would like you to order all of your regular medicines at the same time each month/ 2 months: it’s easier for both you and us and is also safer and mistakes are less likely.

When new medicines are added to your prescription they sometimes end up out of synch with your other medicines so you may end up having to order different medicines at different times of the month which is very inefficient for you, us and your pharmacy.

Please contact our prescription team on 01252 332210 (option 3) between 9.00 – 13.30, to arrange synchronisation of your prescription.
The prescribing team will work through your request and issue them all together and then all you need to do in the future is order once every month or two months.

There are some medicines that we can’t do this way – for example controlled drugs – but the prescribing team will help you to sort this out.