If your pet is diagnosed with a long term illness or chronic condition (e.g. epilepsy, diabetes or arthritis) that requires regular medication our Veterinary Surgeons can authorise repeat prescriptions.
Repeat prescriptions need to be authorised by a Veterinary Surgeon. The vet is required to make a note on your pet’s clinical history that a repeat prescription of a certain drug has been authorised.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (the legislative body governing the veterinary profession) has specific legislation which applies to issuing repeat prescriptions.
Under the Veterinary Medicines Regulations (2005) a veterinary surgeon can only prescribe medicines for animals deemed to be under his or her care. This means that the veterinary surgeon must have:
- been given the responsibility for the care of the animal by its owner or guardian
- performed a clinical examination of the animal sufficiently often & recently enough to feel he or she has sufficient personal knowledge of the animal’s physical condition and diseases.
We have a policy which states that animals who are on continuous medication must be examined every 6 months by a veterinary surgeon (or more frequently in certain cases). This is in line with many other veterinary practices. We reserve the right to refuse medication to any animal which has not been examined within the last 6 months.
In order to ensure we have the required amount of your pet’s medication in stock and that we have time for a veterinary surgeon to authorise and make up the medication we ask that you give us 24 hours notice prior to collecting any medication, 48 hours for controlled medications e.g. Tralieve, Soliphen etc. Please telephone reception, send us an email or use our repeat prescription request form to order your pet’s drugs and/or food.
We can also provide you with a written prescription which can be fulfilled by another pharmacy or suitably qualified person. There is a prescription charge for all written prescriptions and the issuing of these is subject to the same conditions as above.