Prescription Repeat Dispensing

Repeat dispensing is a means of patients having their medicines dispensed in instalments over a maximum of one year as determined by your doctor, direct from the pharmacy, rather than going back to their GP each time for a "repeat prescription", through the use of "multi-copy" or batch prescriptions. Ideally it is suited to patients with long-term chronic conditions that are stable - i.e. no likelihood of medicine change in the foreseeable future.

The prescription will consist of the repeatable prescription, plus batch issues with "X of Y", eg "1 of 12" is the 1st repeat of a total of 12, written on it, which is signed and filled in as now, each time that batch is dispensed by the pharmacist. The pharmacy retains the repeatable prescription as a legal record and the patient either keeps the remaining batch issues themselves or asks the pharmacist to keep them on their behalf, until it is required for another issue of the medication. Patients can not change pharmacies mid-batch without getting a new repeatable prescription from their doctor. Patients can inform the pharmacy if they do not need everything on the repeatable prescription (or the pharmacist will ask you what you need and/or check if everything is alright) and so reducing drug wastage.

See NHS Repeat Prescriptions for more information.