Prescriptions

Hamstreet Surgery

We are open for the dispensing of prescriptions Mon, Wed, Thurs and Fri from 08:00 – 18:30 and Tues from 08:00 - 19:45.

The dispensary phone lines are available Mon-Fri between 09:00 - 15:00 only.

Aldington Post Office - Roman Rd, Aldington TN25 7DA

Aldington residents can arrange for repeat prescriptions to be collected from Aldington Post Office on Wednesdays between 11:00 – 11:30.  

Appledore Village Hall - Appledore TN26 2AE

Appledore residents can arrange for repeat prescriptions to be collected from the Village Hall on Tuesdays between 10:15 - 10:45.

Patients living more than one mile from a chemist may obtain all their medicines from the surgery.

If you live within a mile of the nearest chemist, then you must take a signed prescription to a chemist for dispensing.

To make this service as accessible and simple as possible for our patients, we accept repeat prescription requests via the following methods:

Please do not try to order by any way other than those outlined above. The need to have your request in writing is to protect all parties and to reduce the risk of mistakes arising. Patient confidentiality is paramount and conversations over the counter are not considered to be secure.

Please be aware that as of the 1^st September 2024 the email function will no longer be accepting repeat prescription requests.

In England, around 90% of prescription items are dispensed free. This includes exemptions from charging those on low incomes, such as:

• those on specific benefits or through the NHS Low Income Scheme
• those who are age exempt
• those with certain medical conditions

These charges apply in England only.

*If you have multiple prescriptions, you may find it cheaper to buy a Pre-Payment Certificate (PPC).

• Phone 0845 850 0030
• Buy or Renew a PPC On-line

HRT Pre-Payment Certificate

**From 1 April 2023, patients will be able to purchase an annual Hormone Replacement Therapy prescription prepayment certificate (HRT PPC). Click here for more information.

We will no longer be providing Diazepam or similar drugs for flight anxiety. 

'Flight anxiety does not come under the remit of General Medical Services as defined in the GP contract and so we are not obliged to prescribe for this. 

Patients who still wish to take Benzodiazepines for flight anxiety are advised to consult with a private GP or travel clinic.'

Under new practice prescribing policy and safety concerns of medication to delay periods, the clinicians at the surgery will no longer prescribe medication to stop periods for holidays, pilgrimages, or sport, as this is not a clinical need.

Pharmacies are able to prescribe medication privately to delay your period. If you would like to postpone your period, you can visit a pharmacy website by searching online for ‘delay period pill’, have an online counselling session with a pharmacist and order the medication privately from them.

Please help the NHS to use resources sensibly.

Your GP or nurse will not generally give you a prescription for medicines which can be easily purchased over-the-counter to treat a range of minor health concerns.

We cannot accept sharps bins at the surgery.

Ashford  Borough Council have notified us that they have stopped accepting sharps boxes at the Gateway and Civic Centre. They are directing anyone who brings them in to them to sign-up for home collection instead. 

Collections can be booked regularly (such as monthly) or just as and when required by the patient.

Adrenaline Auto Injectors (AAI) devices should ONLY be prescribed for a person with a history or an acknowledged risk of an anaphylactic reaction.

The guidance provided by the Kent & Medway Clinical Commissioning Group recommend that patients should have two AAI devices prescribed, which they should carry at ALL times.

What is a medication review?

You might see a note on your repeat prescription slip telling you that you are due a medication review.  This is an opportunity for our healthcare professionals to check that the medication you take is still the best treatment for your condition and that you have had the appropriate monitoring and health checks for your condition.

Appointments can be booked with our GPs, or a Nurse in some cases. If you have been taking the same medication and your condition is stable it may be sufficient to conduct your medication review as a telephone consultation.

How often do I need a medication review?

These reviews are generally required annually. If you have started new medications, or the dosage has been changed, you may require more regular reviews.

How do I book my medication review?

Please contact the surgery by phoning 01233 720190 and select option 1. Our reception team will arrange your review with the most appropriate clinician. 

Some medications require regular monitoring. This may include blood tests, blood pressure and weight checks. Upon commencing any medication, the prescribing clinician should provide clear advice about the monitoring required.

If you do not complete the agreed monitoring for your medications, you may only receive a 14 day supply of your medications until this is completed. 

Shared Care Protocol

We prescribe certain medications on what is known as "shared-care prescribing"  (examples include Methotrexate, Azathioprine, Ciclosporin). The patient remains under the care of the hospital specialist but the prescription is issued by the GP. Some drugs issued under shared-care require regular monitoring of blood tests to ensure they are prescribed safely. If the patient is having their blood test monitoring done at the hospital, the GPs at Hamstreet Surgery reserve the right not to issue the prescription until they have up-to-date copies of the blood test results. It is the patient’s responsibility to make sure that we are receiving copies of their blood results.

Sometimes the GP will not issue a request for a prescription and will ask you to arrange a telephone or face-to-face consultation instead.

Common reasons include:

• You have requested a medication that has never been given to you before by this surgery.
• You have requested your repeat prescription too soon. The GP might be concerned that you are taking your tablets too often and that they are running out early.
• You have requested an item which is not usually given as a repeat prescription (such as antibiotics or steroid creams).
• You have not been seen by the GP or nurse for a while and you need to have routine monitoring and health checks before we can safely issue your prescription.
• You gave us a handwritten prescription from a hospital which you were supposed to take to the hospital pharmacy.

The GPs at Hamstreet Surgery believe that providing the best possible care to our patients is our top priority. When a prescription is necessary, our main considerations are effectiveness and safety. We would never let cost come before patient care but at the same time we try to provide the best value to the NHS by prescribing from an approved list of medications which meet these considerations.

This list is known as a formulary and we are sometimes asked by a hospital doctor to prescribe medications which are either restricted to the local hospital formulary or are not on either the local hospital or GP formulary. It is not always possible to prescribe these medications but when these situations arise, we will seek advice from the Ashford Medicines Management Team in order to find a solution for our patients.