Prescriptions

Alert !!!!!!!!Covid Scam

Vitamin D supplements

During the autumn and winter months everyone is advised to take a supplement of vitamin D every day to support general health and in particular for bone and muscle health. Many of us have been indoors more than usual this year and so might not have been making enough vitamin D from sunlight. You can find general advice on

vitamin D here: www.nhs.uk/vitamin-d

For reference only This advice is particularly important for people who have been shielding this year due to COVID-19, or who are living in care homes, because they are most likely to have been indoors over the spring and summer and so may not have been able to obtain enough vitamin D from sunlight.

The Government is offering a free 4-month supply of daily supplements of vitamin D for all adults who are clinically extremely vulnerable to support general health and in particular for bone and muscle health. If you would like to opt-in to receive your free supply of vitamin D, you will need register your details between 30 November 2020 and 4 January 2021 at the following link: www.nhs.uk/get-vitamin-d

You do not need to opt-in to receive the vitamin D supplements if:

• You are already taking, or are prescribed, a vitamin D supplement by your

GP or healthcare professional

• You are currently living in a nursing or residential care home as they will provide these direct to the home where you live.

Electronic Repeat Dispensing

As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic our capacity as a practice to individually process prescription requests in the usual timescales is likely to become compromised. In preparation for this situation and to ensure that patients still have ready access to there medicines we may have in some cases set up your repeat prescriptions to be Electronic “Repeat Dispensed” ERD.

This means that for the next  issues after  you DO NOT need to place an order with the surgery. We have sent your nominated pharmacy _ more issues of your prescription up front that can be called upon when they are needed. Please do not ask the pharmacy to dispense these early or make any attempt to stockpile your medicines as doing so may compromise the medicines available to other people – they will be dispensed when they are due.

You MUST use this pharmacy for all these issues and if changes are made to your repeat prescription during this time you MUST carefully check the medicines you have to ensure that you do not take medicines that have been stopped but where you may still have received a supply.

Aside from this nothing else changes – these arrangements are purely to ensure that you can access your medicines in a timely way even in the event that we are under severe challenge from the pandemic.

If you have any questions please speak to your community pharmacy in the first instance.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

If you’re regularly prescribed medicines, Electronic Repeat Dispensing can help – you can get your medication from your pharmacist without you having to visit your GP. For more information, click on this link or watch this video.