Prescriptions

Each year 25% of the population visit their GP for a respiratory tract infection (eg sinus, throat or chest infection). These are usually caused by viruses.

For patients who are otherwise healthy, antibiotics are not necessary for viral infections.

These infections will normally clear up by looking after yourself at home with rest, plenty of fluids and paracetamol.

Ear infections typically last 4 days

89% of cases clear up on their own

A sore throat typically lasts 7 days

40% of cases clear up after 3 days and 90% after 7 days without antibiotics

Sinusitis typically lasts 17 days

80% clear up in 14 days without antibiotics

Cough/bronchitis typically lasts 21 days

Antibiotics reduce symptoms by only 1 day

Antibiotics only work for infections caused by bacteria.

Taking unnecessary antibiotics for viral infections should be avoided because they may not be effective next time you have a bacterial infection.

In an emergency, when the surgery is closed, a pharmacist can supply repeat medications without a prescription if the pharmacist deems that there is an immediate need for the medicine.  

If you are taking medicines abroad, it is advisable to check UK rules and those of the country that you are visiting. Please talk to your doctor or practice nurse at least two months before making your trip abroad. Please visit: Travel Health Pro for further information and guidance.

When you are discharged from Hospital you should normally receive seven days supply of medication.

On receipt of your discharge medication, which will be issued to you by the Hospital, please contact the Surgery to provide them with this information before your supply of medication has run out.

Hospital requests for change of medication will be checked by a prescribing clinician first, and if necessary a prescribing clinician will provide you with a prescription on request. 

The Doctors have taken the decision not to prescribe diazepam in cases where the there is a fear of flying. There are a number of reasons for this that are set out below.

• Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy and more relaxed. If there is an emergency during the flight it may impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions and react to the situation. This could have serious safety consequences for you and those around you.

• 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. This can cause you to be at increased risk of developing a blood clot (DVT) in the leg or even the lung. Blood clots are very dangerous and can even prove fatal. This risk is even greater if your flight is greater than 4 hours.

• Whilst most people find benzodiazepines like diazepam sedating, a small number of people experience the opposite effect and may become aggressive. Benzodiazepines can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally. This could impact on your safety as well as that of other passengers and could also get you into trouble with the law.

• According to the national prescribing guidelines that doctors follow (the British National Formulary, or BNF) benzodiazepines are not allowed to be prescribed in cases of phobia. Thus your doctor would be taking a significant legal risk by prescribing diazepam for fear of flying as it is going against these guidelines. Benzodiazepines are only licensed short term for a crisis in generalised anxiety. If this is the case, you should be getting proper care and support for your mental health and not going on a flight.

• 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.

• 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 much better approach is to tackle this properly with a Fear of Flying course run by the airlines. We have listed a number of these below.

Easy Jet – Tel 0203 8131644
Fearless Flyer EasyJet

British Airways – Tel 01252 793250
Flying with confidence

Virgin – Tel 01423 714900
Flying without fear

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.

Non-repeat prescriptions, known as ‘acute’ prescriptions are medicines that have been issued by the Doctor but not added to your repeat prescription records. This is normally a new medication issued for a trial period, and may require a review visit with your Doctor prior to the medication being added onto your repeat prescription records.

Some medications are recorded as acute as they require to be closely monitored by the Doctor. Examples include many anti-depressants, drugs of potential abuse or where the prescribing is subject to legal or clinical restrictions or special criteria. If this is the case with your medicine, you may not always be issued with a repeat prescription until you have consulted with your Doctor again.

STOMP stands for stopping over medication of people with a learning disability, autism or both with psychotropic medicines. It is a national project involving many different organisations which are helping to stop the over use of these medicines.  STOMP is about helping people to stay well and have a good quality of life.

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.

Opioids provide pain relief by acting on areas in the spinal cord and brain to block the transmission of pain signals. Opioids are considered to be some of the strongest painkillers available and are used to treat pain after surgery, serious injury and cancer. Examples of these include codeine, dihydrocodeine and co-codamol (which contains paracetamol and codeine).

What dose of opioid should I take?

The correct dose of any medicine is the lowest dose that produces a noticeable benefit. It is not usual to get complete relief of pain from opioids. Your GP may recommend an “opiate trial” for 2-3 weeks, then review if the benefits of taking the medication outweigh the risks. You should always take the correct dose of prescribed medicines. If you feel the dose isn’t enough, or if the side effects interfere with your life, discuss this with your GP.

What are the possible side effects?

When you first start taking opioids you can get some side effects, which usually stop after a few days. These include:
feeling dizzy
feeling sick (nausea)
being sick (vomiting)
feeling sleepy If pain has affected your sleep, opioids may help you to recover your normal pattern of sleep, but they should not make you drowsy in the daytime.

Opioid medicines can cause some problems when you take them for long periods of time.
These problems include:
constipation*
itching
weight gain
lack of sex drive
* This is common when taking opioids and does not tend to go away the longer you take opioid medicines. You may need to try laxatives to treat constipation.

Can I drink alcohol?

Alcohol and opioids both can cause sleepiness and poor concentration. You should avoid alcohol completely when you first start on opioids or when your dose has just been increased.

Will my body get used to opioid medicines?

Opioids can become less effective with time (this is called tolerance) meaning your body has got used to the pain relieving effect of the medicine. You can also become dependent on opioid medicines (dependence).

What about addiction to opioids?

It is rare for people in pain to become addicted to opioids. People who are addicted to opioids can:
feel out of control about how much medicine they take or how often they take it
crave the drug
continue to take the drug even when it has a negative effect on their physical or mental health

Can I take this medicine long-term?

While opioids can have a positive benefit for some people living with long-term pain they can have serious consequences when they are not providing sufficient benefit or are being taken in a manner that was not intended. It is important to consider the risks and benefits of continued opioid therapy with your prescriber on a regular basis. Recent medical literature suggests that the risks to your health increase significantly when prescribing opioids at high doses for a long period of time.

If there are any medications you no longer use, please advise the receptionist who will arrange to have them removed from your repeat medications.

The video shown below shows how we can reduce the waste on repeat prescriptions, wasted medication impacts on our NHS services.