DON'T FORGET TO ORDER REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS
6 December 2021
With Christmas fast approaching, the Coventry & Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) is urging patients to order repeat prescriptions in plenty of time to make sure they have enough medication to last over the festive break.
The Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) service will not be open on Bank Holidays and weekends, and many GP practices and pharmacies will have limited opening hours between Christmas and New Year.
The NHS 111 service receives hundreds of calls every Christmas from patients who have run out of medication, which puts additional pressure on busy urgent care and out of hours NHS services. To reduce this pressure and help make sure you don’t run out of medication this Christmas, don’t leave ordering repeat prescriptions until the last minute.
The POD cut-off date to ensure any prescription is signed off and dispensed at the pharmacy before the 4-day Christmas Bank Holiday is Friday 17th December.
If the patient is due to order over the Christmas holiday period, POD will issue a double prescription for those patients that take regular medication and will order the same items in December as November. POD will be processing double prescriptions from 24th November until 7th December inclusive.
If necessary, the POD will also be accepting early requests from 13th December to ensure the patient has sufficient medication over the Christmas period.
POD is closed on the weekends and the Bank Holidays and will be open as normal between 8am and 5pm on all other days.
To order your prescription via the POD, call 024 7624 6025 for Warwickshire North, 024 7624 6072 for Coventry & Rugby, or submit a request online via the website.
Further advice on how to stay well over the winter period can be found at www.nhs.uk/staywell/
Find your nearest pharmacy and opening hours here.