Repeat Prescriptions

All repeat prescriptions are now issued electronically, and once processed and signed by the GP, your prescription will be sent electronically to your nominated pharmacy. 

How to Order a Repeat Prescription

Please hand in or post your repeat prescription counterfoil to us, ticking the medication you need. These can now be left in the white post box on the front wall of the building. 

If you do not have a repeat prescription counterfoil then please write the patient details including name, date of birth and address, and what medications are needed on note paper. 

Order online via SystmOnline by clicking on the link at the top of this page.

We prefer that you request all the medicines that you will need in the next month.

Issuing of Prescriptions

After careful consideration, as from August 2022 the partners have decided to revert back and to issue prescriptions for 56 days, rather than the current 28 days. 

This means that your prescription will be changed back to 56 days when it is next due to be re-authorised.

Telephone requests

Please note that we DO NOT accept requests for repeat prescriptions by telephone.

Please allow at least two full working days to process your request and send the prescription to your chose pharmacy. Due to the number of prescriptions that are received by the practice every day, any prescription request received after 10am will not be processed until the following day. Please remember to make sure that you have enough medication.

Electronic Prescription Service 

What is the Electronic Prescription Service?

A new way to get your medicines and appliances.

The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) is an NHS service. The Billericay Medical Practice can send your prescription electronically to the place you choose to get your medicines or appliances from.

What does this mean for you?

If you get a repeat prescription, you will not have to spend your time going to your GP practice each time to pick up your paper prescription. Instead your GP will send it automatically to the place you choose, with no chance of it getting lost.

You will have more choice about where to get your medicines from, because they can be collected from a pharmacy near to where you live, work or shop.

You may not have to wait as long for your prescription items, as there will be time to get your repeat prescription items ready before you arrive. If any of the medicines on your prescription are out of stock, they can be ordered in ready for you.

You can read the EPS Patient Information Leaflet HERE

Other points about repeat prescriptions

Please let us know if there is a difference between what you are taking and what is listed on your prescription counterfoil.

Some medicines need close monitoring and you will be asked to make an appointment rather than being given a repeat prescription.

We often have requests for re-prescriptions of items which have not been set up as true repeat prescriptions. You can fill out a form at reception to make such a request. Please try to give us as much information as possible about what you are requesting, such as drug name, dosage, frequency etc. Requests of this sort take longer to process (up to five working days) as a decision has to be made by one of the doctors as to whether another prescription can be issued without the patient being seen (for example we hardly ever prescribe antibiotics without first seeing the patient).

Sometimes requests come with a note such as 'please contact me when my prescription is ready'. Our volume of work is such that we cannot do this, but we are happy for patients to ring in to ask us if their prescription is ready.

You can now arrange for your pharmacist to pick up your completed prescription and have the medicines waiting for you at the chemists; reception will be able to help you if you wish to arrange this.

Private Prescriptions

The practice will no longer accept patients requests to change a private prescription to a NHS prescription without the patient consulting with a doctor first.

Patients who wish for their prescription to be changed must make an appointment with the doctor or dispense the medication at a local pharmacist if they cannot wait until they can be seen on the next available routine appointment. READ MORE HERE

Prescriptions Charges and Exemptions

Extensive exemption and remission arrangements protect those likely to have difficulty in paying charges (NHS prescription and dental charges, optical and hospital travel costs).

The NHS prescription charge is a flat-rate amount which successive Governments have thought it reasonable to charge for those who can afford to pay for their medicines. Prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) offer real savings for people who need extensive medication.

NHS charges

These charges apply in England only. In Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales prescriptions are free of charge.

• Prescription (per item): £9.65
• 12-month prepayment certificate (PPC): £111.60
• 3-month PPC: £31.25

If you will have to pay for four or more prescription items in three months, or more than 15 items in 12 months, you may find it cheaper to buy a PPC.

• Telephone advice and order line 0845 850 0030
• General Public - Buy or Renew a PPC Online

There is further information about prescription exemptions and fees on the NHS website

Electronic Prescription Service Phase 4

We are upgrading to the next phase of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) which will mean that almost all our prescriptions will be processed electronically from 20th January 2020. 

Electronic prescriptions help save the NHS money.

You will receive your prescriptions in the same way as you do now.

Read more about EPS on the NHS website.

Phase 4 of EPS allows prescriptions for patients without an EPS nomination to be signed, sent and processed electronically. NHS Digital piloted Phase 4 at GP practices and dispensers across England from November 2018.

The roll out of Phase 4 to GP practices in England started in November 2019, making EPS the default method for prescribing, dispensing and reimbursement of prescriptions in primary care in England.

EPS currently allows prescribers to send prescriptions electronically to a dispenser of the patient's choice - known as their "nominated" dispenser. Electronic prescriptions currently account for around 70% of all prescriptions issued in England (September 2019).

Paper prescriptions will continue to be available in special circumstances, but almost all prescriptions will be processed electronically.

Patients without an EPS nomination will be given a token (patients may refer to this as a paper copy of their prescription) to present at a community pharmacy or Dispensing Appliance Contractor (DAC) to obtain their medication. This token will contain a unique barcode which can be scanned at any community pharmacy or DAC in England to download the prescription from the NHS Spine and retrieve the medication details.

Available for Purchase (Self Care)

Electronic Repeat Dispensing

Patients travelling abroad will normally be prescribed 28 days medication only for the treatment of existing long-term conditions. At the discretion of the GP, this may be increased to 56 days or 84 days in exceptional circumstances.

Patients travelling abroad for more than three months will be given enough medication to enable them to get to their destination and arrange an alternative supply.

Prescribers are clinically and legally responsible for any results of a decision to prescribe. Patients going abroad for extended periods are not able to be monitored and so it is not considered good clinical practice to prescribe large amounts of repeat medication. Instead, on request the practice can provide patients with a current list of their medicines and a summary of the patient’s relevant medical history.

NHS prescriptions must not be obtained by relatives or friends on behalf of patients who are currently abroad.