Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD)

Many of our patients are stable on the medication they take to help manage their long-term medical conditions. In order to help ensure that each of you are able to get your medication in a timely way these medications are usually set up "on repeat", which means that it is easier for you to request them at regular intervals (usually every month or every other month).

You will then have an annual review (usually in the month of your birthday) which ensures that all the relevant physical checks and lab tests (e.g. blood/urine tests) are up to date so we can review and reauthorise your medication, making appropriate changes if necessary.

At the moment, you can request your repeat medications using a paper form, or online via the SystmOnline or NHS app. Some patients delegate requesting their medication to their nominated pharmacy - unfortunately this sometimes means the pharmacy might request medication which you either don't need or no longer take which can lead to delays or confusion.

To help ensure that our repeat prescriptions are safe and timely, we aim to move most of the patients who are eligible for it onto a new system called "Electronic Repeat Dispensing". This means that your prescriptions will be pre-authorised right through to your next annual review, and that the prescriptions will automatically drop in to your nominated pharmacy a week before you should need them. You then won't need to formally request them, you can just go to your pharmacy when the medication is due.

When we are setting this up we will let you know how many issues have been pre-authorised.

You must let your pharmacy know that you are now using this system.

This is only available to patients who have regular medications which are stable (i.e. they don't tend to change very often), such as those for high blood pressure, COPD or underactive thyroid.

You will still have to request some medications yourself, these include:

• "As required" medications, e.g.:
  • Ointments and creams for eczema or psoriasis
  • "Reliever" inhalers such as salbutamol
• Controlled drugs (e.g. morphine, gabapentin, pregabalin, medications for ADHD)
• Methotrexate and other DMARDs (powerful anti-inflammatories which need more regular blood monitoring)
• Lithium

If you need your medication slightly early (e.g. you are going on holiday), your pharmacy will be able to sort this out for you - please ensure you give them adequate notice to be able to download your prescription early if this is the case.

Please remember to engage with your annual review when the time comes (we usually invite you in the month before your birthday) to ensure that your review and renewal process takes place as smoothly as possible, to avoid any unnecessary interruptions or delays.