eRD stands for Electronic Repeat Dispensing – this means that we can send certain medications from your repeat list to the Pharmacy for you, without you having to request it for a certain period; usually 3,6 or 12 months (depending on the medication that you are on).
eRD only works for your regular repeat medication.
We cannot send any medication that is only needed PRN*, controlled drugs*, any high-risk drugs* or any medications you have had as an acute* issue. Therefore, if you require any of those medications, you will still need to request these via your Pharmacy/GP surgery 7-10 days prior to when they are needed.
Your community Pharmacy will then inform you when your eRD is coming to end and will need reviewing by your GP surgery; It is your responsibility to contact your GP surgery and ask for those medications to go back on ERD for a further period.
High Risk drugs* – these include medications that need frequent monitoring via blood tests such as Methotrexate, opiate based drugs such as Co-codamol and any medication that frequently changes.
Controlled drugs* – If you are on a controlled drug, you will be aware of this.
PRN drugs*- PRN stands for ‘Pro Re Nata’ which means ‘as and when needed’. These would include medications such as paracetamol – medications that you would not expect to receive every month.
Acute drugs* – Acute medication is prescribed for a short period of time for an illness or condition expected to clear up in a short amount of time. These would include antibiotics.
Step 1
Talk to your GP or the person who prescribes your medicines and ask them if you can use Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD). Your prescriber will usually be your Doctor, Practice Nurse, or Pharmacist.
If your prescriber thinks that you could use eRD for your regular medicines, they will ask you for permission to share information about your treatment with your pharmacist. This will help your pharmacist to give your prescriber feedback about your treatment and provide you with useful advice.
Your GP or prescriber will then authorise a number of eRD prescriptions. This will be based on your circumstances and clinical need. These eRD prescriptions will then be supplied by your pharmacy at regular intervals.
Step 2
Collect your first eRD prescription from your pharmacy. You can choose any pharmacy that dispenses NHS prescriptions; if this changes from your nominated Pharmacy on your record, you need to let you Doctors’ surgery know.
Step 3
Next time you need more medicines, go back to your pharmacy and they will be there for you.
Before dispensing the next issue of your prescription, your pharmacy will ask you the following questions:
- Have you seen any health professionals (GP, Nurse, or hospital Doctor), since your last repeat prescription was supplied? · Have you recently started taking any new medicines – either on prescription or that you have bought over the counter?
- Have you been having any problems with your medication or experiencing any side effects?
- Are there any items on your repeat prescription that you don’t need this month?
If you don’t need all of the medicines on your prescription, let the pharmacy staff know, so that they only supply the medicines you need. This will help to reduce waste and save the NHS money.
If you have any questions about your medicines, just ask at the pharmacy; they’ll be happy to help you.
Step 4
When your pharmacy supplies your last eRD prescription, they will advise you to contact your GP practice to arrange for your medication to be reviewed and if it is clinically appropriate to issue another eRD prescription.
Your Doctor or Practice Nurse may want you to make an appointment to speak to them before they will authorise more eRD prescriptions.
Please be aware that this request will take the usual 72 hours turnaround, not including the day of request, weekends or bank holidays.
