Had to renew my script recently and discovered today that it was only given a renewal for 3 months and no indication was given of this reduced timeframe at the time (It had been previously given for 6 months). When queried today I was told that this was the new policy of the practice, which I see as a blatant way to screw more money (€30 for each renewal) from the public as they know the difficulty patients have in finding a new doctor locally. I also find it a bit disingenuous given that the maximum duration of a script was increased last year from 6 to 12 months. Anyone else experience such gouging from their quack?
Medical Script renewal
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Brendan Burgess
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What are the rules?
1) The doctor prescribes something like blood pressure medication for 6 months.
2) Is it up to the doctor to mark it "renew after 6 months for 6 months."?
3) Presumably the doctor can make a decision not to renew a prescription without a consultation.
4) I got a renewal lately without a consultation but the doctor could have marked the prescription "renew for another 6 months."
1) The doctor prescribes something like blood pressure medication for 6 months.
2) Is it up to the doctor to mark it "renew after 6 months for 6 months."?
3) Presumably the doctor can make a decision not to renew a prescription without a consultation.
4) I got a renewal lately without a consultation but the doctor could have marked the prescription "renew for another 6 months."
Brendan Burgess
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Pharmacist extension of prescriptions
If your 6-month prescription is dated 1 March 2024 or later, a pharmacist may extend this prescription to 12 months in total.
This means that from 1 September 2024, if you have a 6-month prescription you can request an extension to if from your pharmacist if it is dated from 1 March 2024.
Prescriptions written after 1 March 2024 for other periods cannot be extended by a pharmacist.
So, when your 6-month prescription is due to end you can ask your pharmacist to extend it. This means that you may not need to visit your doctor for a repeat prescription.
However, extensions will not be automatically granted. Your pharmacist will use their clinical judgement to decide if it is safe to extend your prescription.
Certain medications will not be eligible for prescription extension.
Brendan Burgess
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So the doctor does not make a note - Do not extend, or Do extend?
My last regular meds (statins) prescription was for 12 months. I know people who get renewals for regular meds for free using health insurance phone/online/video call doctors. I thought that the rules were changed last year to let pharmacies renew prescriptions but when I asked Chemist Warehouse they told me that they don't/couldn't do it.
A recurring prescription is marked with the number of repeats. E.g. Atorvastarin 20mg x 28 [doses/days] (x 6 [months]).
Des Pondent
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My understanding is;
Some meds can now be prescribed by a GP for 12 months.
If your script is for 6 months, and for some meds only, your pharmacist can extend it for a further 6 months without needing a new script.
Only 6 month scripts can be extended by a pharmacist.
It is explained with some examples here;
https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/87eb1-pharmacy-services/#:~:text=From 1 March 2024, prescribers,they are for 6 months.
If there is a medical reason for your GP only giving a 3 month script, that's fair enough.
Seems very wrong for the GP Practice to have a policy of issuing scripts up to 3 months max.
Some meds can now be prescribed by a GP for 12 months.
If your script is for 6 months, and for some meds only, your pharmacist can extend it for a further 6 months without needing a new script.
Only 6 month scripts can be extended by a pharmacist.
It is explained with some examples here;
https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/87eb1-pharmacy-services/#:~:text=From 1 March 2024, prescribers,they are for 6 months.
If there is a medical reason for your GP only giving a 3 month script, that's fair enough.
Seems very wrong for the GP Practice to have a policy of issuing scripts up to 3 months max.
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It would be but we don't know whether or not this is the case here.
Has anyone successfully tried this? According to mother, Boots told her no pharmacies have actually agreed to do it (in Dublin at least).
Des Pondent
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As I mentioned above I asked Chemist Warehouse and they said that they couldn't/wouldn't do it.
Brendan Burgess
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They refused me too and said that the prescription did not allow for it. I had thought it was some limitation placed by my doctor. I see now that it is the pharmacy's policy.
The question is why? They've provided this service before during Covid, so there's precedence. Also they'll benefit from it, as they'll get their dispensing fee.
Dispensing fees are a mystery to me and I've never knowingly paid one that was explicitly itemised to any pharmacy that I've used (currently Chemist Warehouse). Are they built into the price of prescription medicines or something?
WaterWater
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Pure Pharmacy also wouldn't renew my statins for another 6 months.....but that was in February before this new 1st March thing.....so not sure if that has changed.
I asked in Lloyds \ McCabes about extending a regular prescription and they wouldn't do it, said something along the lines of ... haven't got safeguarding process in place. This has been coming for quite some time so they are not in a hurry about adopting it. Given they provide a paid for GP prescription service they will probably keep shunting people down that route.