Making patients’ lives easier
Released 26/01/2011
ADVERTORIAL: Patients at a busy rural practice in Hampshire are benefiting from an innovative electronic prescription service that takes the hassle out of collecting medication and ordering repeat prescriptions.
Brook Lane Surgery in Southampton, which serves around 10,000 patients, introduced the prescription request and delivery service in 2004 - giving patients a flexible way to obtain their medication, in particular repeat medication.
"We wanted to give patients a service that would make life easier for them - especially working patients, who can struggle to find the time to drop off or collect prescriptions and medication, as well as the elderly and housebound," said Practice Manager Carolyn Hill. "We also wanted to help lighten the load on reception."
This unique NHS service - provided by leading mail order pharmacy company Pharmacy2U - streamlines the repeat prescription process so patients can have their scripts dispensed without having to contact their GP directly or collect the paper document.
Free home or work delivery
Instead, the patient contacts Pharmacy2U by telephone or online and their request is then sent electronically to the GP surgery. Patients can have their medicines delivered free of charge to their home or work. They can also opt in to a free telephone or email reminder service that lets them know when their repeat prescription is about to run out.
More than 450 Brook Lane patients have registered for the service, which is currently used by around 300 surgeries across England.
Data manager Kim Auger, who manages the system for the practice, said: "We are giving patients a choice about how they manage their medication. If time is a particular pressure for them, it's a very helpful service."
"The service was very easy to set up; our GPs have found it straightforward to use and from a patient's point of view it's great. As a working person myself, I wish my own surgery offered it."