Ordering Online
You can order your repeat prescriptions on line now at www.patient-services.co.uk.
Please make sure you have registered for this service first by completing the form available below:
Please allow 72 hours for the processing of your prescription request (not including weekends or public holidays). Some requests may require a visit to your doctor before the prescription can be issued.
Please note ONLY items currently on your repeat prescription can be ordered online
Ordering from the Surgery
Please drop off or post the repeat prescription part of your prescription with the medication you require ticked to the surgery. There is a box in front of reception for this. Please do not hand it in at reception as the box will be regularly checked.
Ordering by Fax
Please fax repeat prescription requests to 01620 897005.
Ordering by email
Patients can email the practice with their repeat prescription request by sending the email to the following email address: Repeats.NorthBerwick@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Please copy and paste this address into your email account.
As well as their prescription order, patients should include their name, address and date of birth in their email to enable us to process the request. Failure to include this information may result in a delay in you receiving your prescription.
Ordering Through Your Local Pharmacy
Patients can arrange for the local pharmacies to manage the re-ordering of their repeat prescriptions on their behalf. Please contact Boots or North Berwick Pharmacy in North Berwick or Gullane Pharmacy in Gullane for more information.
Pharmacy Communications
Practice position on prescribing medication recommended by private providers
We are aware that many of our patients seek specialist opinions in the private sector. Frequently, we are involved in the referral process however in some situations patients instigate their own referrals.
Regardless of the referral pathway please be aware that as GPs funded by the NHS, we are not always in a position to provide medications recommended by private practitioners. At the point of seeking a private referral it should not be your expectation that we will be able to provide you with the recommended treatment and you may have to fund this yourself.
This is for a number of reasons including;
- the use of treatments that lie beyond our area of expertise
- the use of treatments that are not prescribed in line with the local prescribing guidelines. Such guidelines exist to ensure safety and value for money for NHS patients.
- the use of treatments by private providers that involve a degree of specialist monitoring and surveillance that we are not funded to undertake
As an NHS funded service we are currently working under significant pressure and it is essential that we utilise the time and resources at our disposal to maximise the delivery of NHS care.
ADHD Diagnosis and Medication
We recognise the challenges patients face under very long NHS waiting lists and have always tried to accommodate such requests when we are able to do so. We do not get any funding for this additional workload but at present are still trying to accommodate such requests where possible.
We do however set a number of conditions that need to be met in order to agree to safely share care with private healthcare providers:
- The medication must be one the GP is competent to prescribe safely.
- The medication would have to be available on the NHS in similar circumstances.
- The private healthcare provider would have to agree to share care using the NHS Lothian shared care agreement.
- The private specialist has to follow up the patient as would happen within the NHS.
- The patient would likewise have to agree to continue seeing the specialist in order for the prescription to be continued. If a patient decided to stop seeing the specialist we would not be able to continue prescribing the medication.
What are the monitoring requirements?
You should have an annual review with your specialist.
Six months after your annual specialist reviews, your GP practice needs to check your:
- Blood pressure
- Pulse rate
- Weight
This means you will be monitored every 6 months, alternating between your specialist and your GP.
How to send us your results
You can record your own blood pressure, pulse, and weight at home (blood pressure monitors are available from most pharmacies).
Please send these results to our reception team by email or hand them in at reception, making sure you include your name and date of birth.
You do not need to make an appointment at the practice for these checks and it is your responsibility to provide us with this information. We do not receive any additional funding to accommodate specialist prescriptions but we wish to continue to support you with your treatment.
Prescriptions
Your GP can only authorise your next repeat prescription once your monitoring results have been reviewed. To avoid running out of medication, please send your results to us in good time. We recommend 2 – 4 weeks before you need your next prescription.
Other information
If your medication was started by the Edinburgh Practice (private clinic), their team may carry out monitoring directly. Please check with them if this applies to you.
This guidance is for adults only.
We need to be satisfied that the private specialist is suitably qualified and experienced. This can be difficult but in general there is rarely an issue with any major private healthcare provider. If we cannot be certain the private specialist is suitably qualified we cannot agree to a SCA with that provider. For example, an ADHD diagnosis must be carried out by a fully qualified psychiatrist and evidenced in their documentation to us. The practice needs to have capacity to do this work. As above this is not work GP’s are required to do, and are not paid to do. We try and support our patients as best we can but with all the pressures in GP there may come a time when we cannot take on any more of these SCA if the work involved got so much that it was affecting core NHS work.