From 1st April 2023, patients that require urgent repeat medication, for example as a result of them running out of a repeat medication, or because they have damaged their medication, or because they have left home without it, will be able to obtain an urgent supply via pharmacies commissioned under the NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service and not via the local Emergency Supply Service.
Patients requiring an urgent supply of repeat medication will need to contact NHS111 (by telephone or online) to be referred to a local participating pharmacy. Patients will therefore no longer be able to be referred via GP practices, GP Out of Hours providers or just contact a pharmacy directly.
Whilst the supply of urgent repeat medication will continue to be available via the national NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service, it is important that patients order their repeat medication from their GP practice with sufficient time so that requests for urgent repeat supplies are minimised. When ordering repeat medication from their GP practice, patients should be reminded that pharmacies may need a few days to process the repeat medication request once it has been processed by their GP practice. Patients should therefore be encouraged to order their repeat medication 7 days before they will run out.
There are various ways to order repeat medication, contact your local pharmacy, via email or the NHS app.
The NHS App is available for patients to download and can be used to request repeat medication and to nominate a pharmacy to dispense prescriptions; this option is a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services on your smartphone or tablet.
