HEALTH AND CARE: Time to order repeat prescriptions

With Easter weekend fast approaching we are asking people who have repeat prescriptions to plan ahead and make sure you have enough medicines to last over the bank holiday weekend.
Order your repeat prescriptions before it's too lateOrder your repeat prescriptions before it's too late
Order your repeat prescriptions before it's too late

Local GP practices will be closed as usual over the weekend and also on Friday, April 14, and Monday, April 17.

Therefore, we want to make sure that people that need regular, routine medicines have what they need before the Easter break.

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If you don’t, or you are running low, please think ahead and contact your GP practice or local pharmacy this week to order more.

Taking action now means that we can make sure that the out of hours services that are available over the bank holiday weekend are on hand for those that need urgent medical help.

Out-of-hours doctors will be available over the weekend for people who need urgent help and treatment; the service is not designed for more routine problems like repeat prescriptions.

However, this isn’t always the case, and on a Saturday one in four calls to the urgent GP out-of-hours service are from people who have run out of routine medication.

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If doctors are busy arranging repeat medicines, they are not so readily available for patients who urgently need their help.

If you do need help or advice over the Easter weekend please remember you can get free, expert, quick information from your local pharmacy.

You can find out which pharmacies are open this bank holiday weekend online: www.coastalwestsussexccg.nhs.uk

If you do need to order more medicines, we are also asking people to give a thought to how much of what you order you are still taking.

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If you are not taking any medicines but they remain on your prescription ask for a prescription review.

There is no option to recycle medicines that are ordered and never used; as soon as a medicine leaves a pharmacy, it cannot be legally given to another patient.

So by a quick review of your repeat prescription can help to make sure you are only ordering what you need and will help to reduce the amount of wasted medication.

This reminder comes at the end of our six-week Our NHS campaign highlighting local health and care services and you can read more about it on our website.

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This is our NHS, so let’s take care of it together and make sure that everyone can get the help and attention they need.

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