Please only read this letter if asked to do so by our attached practice pharmacist
Dear patient,
The practice is working with your community pharmacist to improve how we manage regular repeat prescriptions. We have issued you with a serial prescription which looks like a normal prescription but lasts for up to 12 months. It does not need to be reordered from the practice in this time period.
The serial prescription(s) are kept in the community pharmacy and your GP decides how often your medicines should be collected; usually every 8 weeks. Let your pharmacist know if you need to collect your medicines earlier than normal or if you will need more than usual if, for example, you are going on holiday. Your practice is informed each time you collect a supply of medication.
The next time your prescription is due please contact your usual pharmacy to arrange collection. Please advise them that you are now on a serial prescription. At this first collection, the pharmacist will register you for this service. The serial prescription can only be dispensed at the pharmacy where this registration has taken place.
Subsequent supplies of your serial prescription will then take place directly from your pharmacy every 8 weeks with no need to order a new prescription from the GP practice for up to 12 months. At this point the pharmacy could then request a new serial prescription from your GP. A review of your repeat medication will be carried out at this time, so depending on your particular condition, your GP practice may or may not invite you in before issuing your next serial prescription.
If you occasionally take medicines which are not on your repeat list, these will not have been added to your serial prescription. If these are required again then they should be reordered from your GP practice as before.
Although you now have a serial prescription, you can still make an appointment to see the doctor whenever you need to. The pharmacist may also advise you to see the doctor if, for example your condition changes.
At any point in the lifetime of your serial prescription, your doctor can stop or add in new medicines and your pharmacist will be informed.
If you do not wish to proceed with a serial prescription or you are in the process of changing either your community pharmacy or GP practice, please inform the community pharmacy above who will cancel the remainder of your existing serial prescription and inform your GP practice before further prescriptions are issued.
More information on this service can be found at Community Pharmacy Scotland website: www.cps.scot/serial-prescriptions-srx