Ordering Repeat Prescriptions in the NHS App: A Walkthrough

The NHS App is the fastest route to a repeat prescription, once it is set up. The setup is the part people get stuck on.

Proving who you are

You need photo ID and a short video of your face, or a login your GP has already given you. It is a one-off, and it is worth pushing through — the app then covers prescriptions, records and appointments.

Setting your nominated pharmacy

Under prescriptions, choose a nominated pharmacy and search for the branch you want. Once set, every future prescription is sent there electronically.

Ordering

Pick the items you actually need, not everything on the list. Ordering medicines you already have at home is how people end up with a cupboard full of stock they will never use, and it is money out of the same NHS budget that pays for the rest of your care.

When an item is not on the list

Items outside the repeat cycle, acute prescriptions and anything the surgery wants reviewed will not appear. That is the surgery's decision, not the app failing. Ring them — usually it is a review that has fallen due.

What we see at our end

Your order goes to the GP first, not to us. We only see it once the surgery has approved and sent it, which is why "I ordered it yesterday" and "it is not here yet" are both true more often than you would think.