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If you cannot order your prescriptions online, place your repeat prescription in the post box at the entrance of the surgery.
Please ensure you request your repeat medication at least 5 working days before you run out of medication. It can take 48 hours for all requests to be processed excluding weekends and bank holiday periods.
For reasons of medical safety we cannot accept a request for medications by telephone.
Following a recent public consultation regarding over the counter (OTC) medications, NHS England has issued guidance for medications that should no longer be routinely prescribed, to empower people to self-care and to ensure our limited resources are used in the best possible way. This is particularly focuses on medicines of limited effectiveness, those for self-limiting conditions, and those for conditions that can be easily managed through self-care. Residents are being called on by #HelpMyNHS to help free up millions of pounds for frontline NHS services by buying low cost medicines (easily available from pharmacies and supermarkets) for short term ailments to help ensure the long-term sustainability of the NHS.
This applies to both children and adults. Exceptions to this will only apply to specific medication required for long-term conditions or for vulnerable people considered unable to self-care. Medicines that can be purchased OTC for the following conditions will no longer be prescribed by your GP, but your local pharmacy can provide advice and medicines for these conditions and more:
There are several aims of this policy:
To save the NHS money and to reduce unnecessary GP consultations. The NHS only receives a defined budget, and money spent on medication that could be purchased OTC is then not available for other needs. There are roughly 57 million GP consultations for minor conditions each year, which costs the NHS £2.3 billion per year. In 2017 the NHS spent £568 million (£18 million in E. Sussex) on prescriptions for medicines that could be cheaply bought OTC from pharmacy and supermarkets. If more people take responsibility for their self-care by using OTC medicines, the NHS will have more money to spend on nurses, cancer treatments and GP services.
To empower patients to take more responsibility for their own health and manage minor medical ailments themselves. Currently 90% of consultations for minor conditions end up with a prescription being issued, but of those medications 80% could have been bought over the counter. Every time an NHS prescription is dispensed from a UK pharmacy it costs the NHS £9, which is either paid by the NHS itself (if a patient is exempt) or by the patient themselves, and is often far more than the cost to buy OTC.
Generic own-brand medications (i.e. ibuprofen) work as well as branded medications (i.e. Nurofen).
Below are supermarket prices for some common medications that cost considerably less than a prescription:
Simple medications such as these can be seen as a normal part of our own selfcare within a typical grocery shop, alongside food/suncream/toothpaste/shampoos/moisturisers/etc. Speak to your local pharmacy about stocking up on medications to treat common conditions for you and your family. By keeping a selection of essential medication at home you can treat common conditions in a timely manner, and avoid unnecessary trips to your doctor and/or even visits to the A+E.
Examples:
|
Condition |
Treatments |
|
Minor conditions associated with pain/fever |
Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, Deep heat, Ibuprofen gel, Voltarol gel |
|
Ear wax drops, Cold sore creams, Sore throat |
Difflam spray, Benxydamin spray |
|
Hayfever/Rhinitis |
Antihistamines (ie, cetirizine, loratadine, piriton) |
|
Colic |
Simethicone drops, infacol, coleif |
|
Dry eyes |
artifical tears (ie, hypromellose, optrex, vicotears) |
|
Ringworm/athletes foot |
Antifungal creams (ie, miconazole, canestan) |
|
Head lice |
Lyclear, permethrin, dimeticone ect |
|
Infrequent constipation |
Laxatives (ie, movicol, laxido, senna, lactulose) |
|
Suncreams |
|
|
Diarhoea (adults only) |
Loperamide/imodium, dioralyte |
|
Haemorrhoids |
non steroid products (ie, anusol) |
|
Supplements and vitamins |
Multivitamins, vitamin D under 1000 units |
|
Dandruff |
Shampoos (ie, Capasal, T-gel, Nizoral) |
|
Mild dry skin |
Moisturisers (ie, E45, oilatum, doublebase) |
|
Infant formula (except for pre-term or cows milk protein allergy |
|
|
Threadworm |
Mebendazole, ovex |
|
Warts and verrucae |
Salicyclic acid, bazuka |
|
Mild irritant dermatitis |
E45 itch, eurax, hydrocortisone 1% cream |
|
Indigestion and heartburn |
Gaviscon, peptac, rennie |
People often come to us requesting the doctor or nurse to prescribe diazepam for fear of flying or assist with sleep during flights. Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy and more relaxed. There are a number of very good reasons why prescribing this drug is not recommended.
According to the prescribing guidelines doctors follow (British National Formulary) diazepam is contraindicated (not allowed) for treating phobias (fears). It also states that “the use of benzodiazepines to treat short-term ‘mild’ anxiety is inappropriate.” Your doctor would be taking a significant legal risk by prescribing against these guidelines. They are only licensed short term for a crisis in generalised anxiety. If this is the case, you should be getting proper care and support for your mental health and not going on a flight. Fear of flying in isolation is not a generalised anxiety disorder.
Although plane emergencies are a rare occurrence there are concerns about reduced awareness and reaction times for patients taking Diazepam which could pose a significant risk to themselves and others due to not being able to react in a manner which could save their life in the event of an emergency on board necessitating evacuation.
The use of such sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however when you do sleep it is an unnatural non-REM sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep. This can cause you to be at an increased risk of developing a blood clot (Deep Vein Thrombosis - DVT) in the leg or even the lungs. Blood clots are very dangerous and can even prove fatal. This risk is even greater if your flight is greater than 4 hours, the amount of time which has been shown to increase the risk of developing DVT whether in an aeroplane or elsewhere.
Whilst most people find Diazepam sedating, a small number have paradoxical agitation and aggression. They can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally which can pose a risk on the plane. This could impact on your safety as well as that of other passengers and could also get you into trouble with the law. A similar effect can be seen with alcohol, which has led to people being removed from flights.
Diazepam and similar controlled drugs are illegal in a number of countries. They may be confiscated or you may find yourself in trouble with the police. The passenger may also need to use a different strategy for the homeward bound journey and/or other legs of the journey
It is important to declare all medical conditions and medications you take to your travel insurer. If not, there is a risk of nullifying any insurance policy you may have.
Given the above we will no longer be providing Diazepam or similar drugs for flight anxiety and instead suggest the below aviation industry recommended flight anxiety courses.
Flight anxiety does not come under the remit of General Medical Services as defined in the GP contract and so we are not obliged to prescribe for this. Patients who still wish to take benzodiazepines for flight anxiety are advised to consult with a private GP.
