Repeat Prescriptions can be ordered in the following ways;

1. Online through a dedicated website. Sign on details can be obtained by phoning the surgery or downloading, completing and returning the ONLINE - PATIENT REGISTRATION FORM
2. By placing your repeat reordering slip in the black box just outside doors to our reception.
3. By phoning the surgery (24 hours) and selecting option 2. Please clearly state your name, date of birth, items required and your preferred chemist. This option in intended for patients who do not have access to the internet

Pease allow 48 hours, excluding weekends and Bank Holidays, for your request to be processed. Any problems please telephone the surgery.

If you have a repeat prescription, we may ask you to come in for a regular review. We will be in touch when you need to come in for a review.

Take it to the pharmacy you got it from or bring it in to the surgery.

Do not put it in your household bin or flush it down the toilet.

If you have questions about your medicine, your local pharmacists can answer these. They can also answer questions on medicines you can buy without a prescription.

The NHS website has information on how your medicine works, how and when to take it, possible side effects and answers to your common questions.

As qualified healthcare professionals, pharmacists can offer advice on minor illnesses such as:

• Coughs
• Colds
• Sore throats
• Tummy trouble
• Aches and pains

They can also advise on medicine that you can buy without a prescription.

> Find a pharmacy

Many pharmacies are open until late and at weekends. You do not need an appointment.

Most pharmacies have a private consultation room where you can discuss issues with pharmacy staff without being overheard.

At this Medical Pactice, we will no longer prescribe Diazepam for patients who wish to use this for a fear of flying. This is for many reasons.

Our concerns around using diazepam in patient who are nervous about flying are as follows:

• Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy, more relaxed and can significantly delay your reaction times. If there is an emergency during the flight it may impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions and react to the situation.

Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however when you do sleep it is an unnatural (non-REM) sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep. There is concern this can cause you to be at increased risk of developing a blood clot (DVT) in the leg or even the lung which can be dangerous. This risk is greater if your flight is greater than four hours.

• Whilst most people find sedative medications like diazepam have a relaxing effect, a small number of people can actually feel more agitated or even aggressive after taking it. Diazepam can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally.

• Prescribing guidelines doctors follow (known as the BNF), don’t recommend using benzodiazepines like diazepam in phobias. We would be acting against these guidelines if we prescribe. 

• Diazepam and similar drugs are illegal in a number of countries. They may be confiscated or you may find yourself in trouble with the police if you are carrying any on arrival.

• Diazepam stays in your system for quite a while. If your job requires you to submit to random drug testing you may fail this having taken diazepam.

We appreciate that fear of flying is very real and very frightening. A lower risk approach is to tackle this properly and hopefully permanently, with a Fear of Flying course run by the airlines and we have listed a number of these below or there are also some free online courses:

• Easy Jet www.fearlessflyer.easyjet.com Tel: 0203 8131644

• British Airways www.flyingwithconfidence.com Tel: 01252 793250

• Virgin Tel: 01423 714900