Hospital Medication

For the purpose of this information, we will refer to this medication type as “hospital medication” but please be aware this also includes other external clinics.

There are several different types of medication you can get from hospital, some of them can be prescribed by your GP and others must be obtained from the hospital pharmacy.

Some medications, known as Red Drugs, are not appropriate for prescribing from your GP surgery and you will need to obtain prescriptions for these from the hospital pharmacy that initiated your treatment, your consultant should make you aware if this is the case.

Some medications must be started by a specialist but can be transferred to your GP after a certain period of time or agreement between the two doctors. We will need to receive a letter from the consultant, and in some cases sign an agreement, to take over prescribing of these medications (known as Amber Drugs). Until this has been arranged you will need to continue receiving your medication from the hospital pharmacy.

Other medications which are recommended by a consultant the GP may be able to prescribe without a signed agreement, as long as we have the clinical information in writing. However it is worth noting that it can take several weeks (and in some cases months) for us to receive a letter from a consultant after you have your clinic appointment, as they are not usually typed and transferred to us immediately. Once we receive a letter, if appropriate, we will add the medication to your repeat list for you to order when needed. If you need to start a medication immediately, the hospital/consultant should provide the medication(s).

Safe Prescribing

If your medication requires monitoring (e.g. blood test, BP check, regular reviews, etc.) then you should comply with requests for these to ensure we can monitor any potential harmful effects of taking certain medications.

Please be aware that failure to do so may result in your medication being limited to weekly prescriptions; for some medications it could even result in you being referred back to hospital or being declined further prescriptions for safety reasons.