Prescriptions

Please allow 48 hours, excluding weekends and Bank Holidays, for your request to be processed to be processed by our GPs, at which point it will then be sent to your designated Pharmacy.

To order a prescription:

We strongly encourage you to order your prescriptions using the NHS App or online via patient access.

Repeat prescriptions can also be ordered by:

• Delivering or posting your repeat prescription slip to the surgery
• Filling a repeat prescription request form at reception
• E-mail your repeat prescription request to sxicb-esx.prescriptionrequests@nhs.net

Please note we do not take prescription requests over the phone.

All prescriptions are processed electronically.

We will send an electronic prescription direct to your nominated pharmacy.

If you require any further support with ordering your repeat prescription, please contact the surgery and ask to speak to the clinical pharmacy team.

We are proud to be able to offer our patients the convenience of an in-house dispensary. The dispensary is run by an enthusiastic team and there is always a dispenser and assistant available at the dispensary that can help and advise you on any problems related to your prescriptions.

Please allow 5 working days to process prescriptions, excluding weekends and bank holidays. 

The dispensary can issue medication for prescriptions prescribed by a doctor or nurse practitioner to the surgery’s own patients who live more than a mile from the nearest chemist. This is a health authority ruling and it is not at the discretion of the doctor.

If you do not meet this criterion but believe that you have special needs that would benefit from being a dispensing patient then you may appeal to the NHS England by completing a "serious difficulty" application form. Please ask reception for this form.

To qualify for this service you must complete a Rural Dispensing Application Form for all members of your family at the time of registration.

Arrangements for patients to whom we are not allowed to dispense (i.e. those living within 1 mile of a chemists shop) can be made as follows:

• Signed prescriptions can be collected from reception in person
• Prescriptions can be sent to Procters Chemist at your request. Please specify whether this is to the High Street or Station Road. Manor Pharmacy in Horam also collect from our surgeries.
• We can post a signed prescription back to you if you supply an SAE with your request

Opening times (Heathfield Dispensary)

Opening times:

Monday to Friday: 08.45 to 12.30 and 14.00 to 18.30, excluding Bank Holidays.

Help with NHS costs

In England, around 90% of prescription items are dispensed for free. This includes exemptions from charging for 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

To check if you are eligible for free prescriptions click here. 

These charges apply in England only. In Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales prescriptions are free of charge.

• Prescription (per item): £9.90
• 12-month prepayment certificate (PPC): £114.50
• 3-month PPC: £32.05

If you will have to pay for four or more prescription items in three months or more than 14 items in 12 months, you may find it cheaper to buy a PPC.

• Telephone advice and order line 0845 850 0030
• General Public - Buy or Renew a PPC On-line

There is further information about prescription exemptions and fees on the NHS website.