How do I order and manage repeat prescriptions?
The nominated pharmacy, the electronic prescription service and repeat dispensing between them remove most of the friction — and the running-out problem has a same-day answer.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 20 min
- Read
- 3 min
- Safety
- caution
Short answer
Order through the NHS App or your practice's online service, nominate a pharmacy so prescriptions go there electronically, and order a week before you run out. If you have already run out, contact a pharmacy — under the emergency supply arrangements a pharmacist can often supply a limited quantity of a regular prescribed medicine without a new prescription.
Most of the difficulty here comes from three separate systems that people do not realise are separate: ordering, dispensing, and the review that authorises further issues. A repeat that suddenly stops is almost always the third one — a medication review has fallen due — and the fix is a call to the practice rather than reordering.
Safety
Step by step
- Set up the NHS App or your practice's online service.The NHS App handles ordering, viewing your prescriptions and nominating a pharmacy for most practices in England. Practices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use different systems.
- Nominate a pharmacy.With a nomination, prescriptions are sent electronically straight to that pharmacy and there is no paper to collect. You can change the nomination at any time, and you can still take a prescription elsewhere if you need to.
- Order about a week before you run out.Practices typically need a couple of working days, and the pharmacy needs time to order anything not held in stock. A week's lead time absorbs both, plus a bank holiday.
- Order only what you need.Ordering everything on the list every time produces waste and can trigger a practice review. Order the items you are actually running low on.
- Expect a medication review.Repeats are authorised for a limited number of issues before a review is required. When an item disappears from the list or is refused, this is usually why — book the review rather than reordering.
- Ask about repeat dispensing for stable long-term medicines.The practice authorises a batch of issues at once and the pharmacy dispenses them at intervals without a new request each time. For stable medication it removes the ordering step entirely.
- Deal with running out the same day.Pharmacists can make an emergency supply of many prescription-only medicines already prescribed to you, at their professional discretion, in a limited quantity. Take the packaging or a repeat slip. Outside pharmacy hours, contact NHS 111.
- Plan ahead for travel.Ask the practice for an early or extended supply before a trip, and expect a limit on how far ahead they will go. GuideHQ has a guide on taking medication abroad legally, which matters for controlled drugs in particular.
- Set up proxy access if you order for someone else.Practices can grant linked or proxy access so you can order on behalf of a child or an adult you care for, with their consent or under the appropriate authority. It is far better than sharing a login.
- Check whether a prepayment certificate would save money.In England, if you pay for several prescription items a month, a prepayment certificate usually costs less. See the separate guide.
Questions people ask
What do I do if I have run out of my medication?
Contact a pharmacy the same day. Under the emergency supply arrangements a pharmacist can often supply a limited quantity of a medicine already prescribed to you. Outside pharmacy hours, contact NHS 111. Do not simply stop taking a medicine.
Why has an item disappeared from my repeat list?
Most often because a medication review has fallen due, or the prescriber has changed something. Contact the practice — reordering will not fix it.
Can I order prescriptions for a relative?
Yes, with proxy access arranged through their GP practice, which is designed for exactly this. It is preferable to using their login, and practices are used to setting it up for carers.