IMPORTANT MESSAGE: CLOSURE OF THE REPEAT PRESCRIBING TELEPHONE LINE & A NEW AUTOMATIC REPEAT PRESCRIPTION SERVICE

With effect from 1st March 2014, Freshwell Health Centre will cease to take repeat prescription orders over the telephone. 
Although we appreciate that this is a convenient way to order it has actually been an area of concern for some time within the practice. Our main concern is with regard to clinical safety and the need to ensure that orders are 100% correct. We have found that communication errors can be made easily on the phone which can lead to dispensing errors. In addition to this, each time a dispenser has to stop what they are doing to answer the phone, the distraction could also lead to mistakes being made on the task that they were doing before the phone rang.
In order to provide a clinically safe prescription service and also ensure that all of our patients receive efficient and prompt attention, we feel it is appropriate to ask for all repeat medication orders to be made by other formats. 
•	We are launching a new “Automatic Repeat Prescription” Service. Rather than having to contact us every 28 days to order your medication, we can process it for you automatically. Please see overleaf for further details
•	“PATIENT ACCESS” (formerly “EMIS ACCESS) internet ordering. Further details can be found on the website via the homepage or ask at reception for further details. You would need to come in and register for this. Using your password and pin, you can not only order repeat prescriptions 24 hours a day, but also book and cancel appointments for a doctor via the internet. 
•	Via our website www.freshwell.co.uk – click on the repeat prescribing icon at the bottom left of the home page and type in your requests.
•	By placing a slip in the box under the reception counter or through our letter box if we are closed. 
•	By post to Freshwell Health Centre, Wethersfield Road, Finchingfield, Essex, CM7 4BQ
•	By email to freshwell.dispensary@nhs.net  (Please write ‘repeat prescription request’ in the subject line)
•	By Fax to 01371 811282 
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NEW AUTOMATIC REPEAT PRESCRIPTION SERVICE
This service is ideal for those patients on regular 28 day repeat prescriptions. Rather than having to contact us every 28 days to order your medication, we can process it for you automatically for you to collect in the usual way. You would still need to order medication that you do not use on a regular basis such as creams, ointments, inhalers, liquid medicines, dressings or insulin. However, if you were to let us know a week before your regular prescription items were due, we could get them together for collection at the same time. We would enclose a note with your medication each month, telling you the date when your next regular prescription would be ready to be collected and reminding you to order your "as needed" items. If you are interested in this service, please let the dispensary staff know, and they can discuss it with you in more detail.

HOUSEBOUND PATIENTS

We understand that in rare cases, a patient may not be able to access the dispensary and make their medication requests using one of the alternative methods stated above.  If you are elderly, housebound and genuinely unable to access the dispensary in any other way please bring this to the attention of your nurse or doctor and this can be looked into on an individual case by case basis.

AN APOLOGY

We appreciate that the dispensary has not been running as smoothly as we would have liked in recent months. There are a number of factors as to why we think that this has arisen. We are working hard to correct this, put new systems in place and train new staff. We have increased the staffing levels in the dispensary. New systems include changing the way that we store our dispensed medication and we have a new method of stock control. These changes will take some time to bed in but we hope that in due course, you will notice a more efficient service.

Your understanding and assistance with making these changes is appreciated.

The Partners, Freshwell Health Centre

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