Dispensary's number - 01823 490903 (open between 11:00 - 13:00) Any prescription queries outside of the stated times will need to be in person at the surgery inside of surgery hours.

Safety guidance discourages telephone ordering of prescriptions, so this line is intended ONLY for those patients who have no other means of ordering their prescriptions.

Please see below other methods of ordering your prescriptions if you struggle getting to the surgery to order.

North Curry Health Centre is a dispensing practice. This means that we are allowed to dispense medication to those patients who live more than a mile from a pharmacy.

Patients can collect medication as they leave the building following a consultation, rather than having to collect a prescription, travel to a pharmacy and wait for their medication and then drive back home. This may be particularly important when you are unwell and need urgent treatment. We offer a one-stop-shop service.

But it is more than that; we have trained dispensers who can check your notes and make sure you are receiving the correct medication, quantities and check for interactions to other medication. They also have access to your GP to check on queries, medication and clinical issues on your behalf. We offer a patient-focused service to our patients.

Please continue to use our dispensary (dispensing patients) if you don’t want to risk losing our services. The dispensary subsidises the whole practice financially! It enables us to employ additional staff and without it the practice would not be viable. Please support us! There are certain online pharmacies in particular who are on a drive to increase business. They are not ‘part of the NHS’ and we are not affiliated with them. They are taking resources away from the community pharmacies and dispensing GPs.

Patients do have the choice of taking their prescription away and getting the medication from any pharmacy should they so wish. If there are areas in which we could improve our service to you, please let us know, as we rely on you using your dispensary to subsidise your local practice.

Hospital, dental and private presrciptions

Please hand any hospital or dental prescriptions to a member of the dispensery team.  There are certain legal requirements that must be present on a prescription before it can be legally dispensed.

If you drop a prescription into the surgery without handing it to a member of the dispensary staff to check first, you may have to return to the surgery to collect the prescription later.  You will then have to take the prescription back to the prescriber if these requirements are not met.

Please notep private prescriptions may be dispensed at the surgery but there will be a cost.  The cost charged is dependent on the cost of the medication prescribed.

For us to dispense these prescriptions please allow TWO WORKING DAYS, alternatively you can take the prescription to a chemist and collect immediately.

• Covid-19 vaccination status
• Patient access for prescriptions on your mobile
• Health advice
• Find out how the NHS uses your data
• Register your organ donation decision
  
• And more...

Patients on repeat medication can re-order this medication without having to see or speak to a doctor. Repeat medication appears on your prescription counterfoil and also on your online medication list.

Whenever possible requests for repeat prescriptions should, for the sake of accuracy and safety, be made in writing, preferably on the counterfoil of the previous computerised prescription. There are various methods to order your repeat prescriptions:

• Via patient access which is a website and has an app that displays information from your practice's system and allows you to view your medication and request further prescriptions through the dispensary. You can also sign up for this service through the NHS app.
• Dropped in to the practice (via box at main entrance)
• Via our online consultation system (on the front screen of the website via the 'Contact us Online' button) only if you are unable to use either of the above methods.
• Or by post or email if you are unable to use our online consultation system - there will understandably be a delay with these as they are not urgent pathways so are less likely to be checked frequently. 

Please contact reception to set yourself up for online ordering.

Repeat prescriptions can be dealt with only on the authority of a doctor and two full working days notice are required to process each request - please don't wait until you have run out, for example ordering on a Monday, collect on a Wednesday.

Any medication you need following a consultation will be dispensed at the time. If you feel you can be helped with medication but without a consultation, your request will be passed to the doctor.

Collections

Two full working days notice is required to process each request for repeat prescriptions - please don't wait until you have run out.

Please do not call the surgery to see if your prescription is ready.

When Will My Prescription Be Ready?

All prescriptions received after 5pm will be processed the following day.

During Bank Holidays :

If a bank holiday falls between the ordering and collection day, please add an additional one day to collection times.  

During Christmas and Easter periods please allow two additional days.

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

If you will have to pay for four or more prescription items in three months or more than 14 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 On-line

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

Help with NHS costs

In England, around 90% of prescription items are dispensed free. This includes exemptions from charging for those on low incomes, such as:

• those on specific benefits or through the NHS Low Income Scheme
• those who are age exempt
• those with certain medical conditions
• More information is available at NHS Choices