How does the dispensary affect me?

We dispense medicines to all our patients living more than a mile from any pharmacy. We aim to offer you a service which meets high standards and offers real benefits to our patients. If you have particular difficulty in getting to the practice or to the nearest collection point, we want to know about it so that we can try to offer you a service that meets your needs.

Why can’t I use this service if I live in Faringdon?

Patients in Faringdon have access to two pharmacies in the centre of town. We hope that Faringdon patients will continue to use either Boots or London Street Pharmacy, with whom we have close working relationships.

Will my medicines look different?

It is possible that we will supply medicines which come with different names or packaging, so they may look different. Many drugs have several different names. The drugs which are prescribed by the doctor for you will be the drugs that are dispensed. There are very strict controls governing the production and supply of medicines and even if your medicine looks different it will still be of a similar quality to the previous one. However, if you have any questions about the medicines you have received, please ask the dispenser.

Will the dispensary have what I need?

We will have comprehensive stocks of the commonly prescribed items. Occasionally you may need a medicine which is not commonly prescribed which will need to be specially ordered. We have established a direct computer link with our suppliers who deliver twice a day, so you should not have long to wait if this should happen.

Collecting Your Medicines

Medicines sent to post offices must be collected as soon as possible. The post offices do not have the space to store prescriptions and those not collected after one week will be sent back to the practice.

For a repeat prescription request, we should have your medicines ready within two working days of receiving the request (this is currently 5-7 days due to pressures of Covid-19).

Post Office Deliveries

Please note from the 25.3.20 that we are unable to deliver to the one stop shop.

We make free daily deliveries on weekdays to the Post Offices in Stanford in the Vale and Uffington.

For the Stanford collection point we do have to restrict this to elderly and vulnerable patients. Please get in touch if you feel you would need a delivery to the Stanford collection point. For Uffington, you just need to indicate that you would like this to be delivered to the collection point on your request.

You can also drop requests into these collection points, but please allow 2 extra working days for these to be ready, due to the delivery schedule.

For patients that usually pay, we would need to have payment in full before making a delivery to the collection points. You can leave a cheque at the collection point or purchase a pre-payment card. Please let us know if you are unsure if you would need to pay.

How will you know where to send the medicines to?

We will automatically have all prescriptions for patients outside Faringdon ready to collect from the dispensary, unless you ask us to deliver to a collection point. If you would like your medicines delivered to a collection point, please indicate this clearly on the request form, marking Stanford or Uffington.

If you wish to have a prescription sent to a different place than you usually would, you need to let us know this at the time of placing your request. You will also need to inform us if this changes again. 

What do I do if I need medicines urgently?

If the dispensary is open please contact the dispensary directly and we will advise you. If the practice is closed and you cannot wait for us to re-open you will need to contact one of the chemists on the out of hours’ rota. This rota is published in the local press and is displayed at the entrance to the practice.