Moorcroft Surgery
Dr Hall, Dr Newell, Dr Lewis, Dr Higgins (Partners)
646 King Lane, LEEDS LS17 7AN
Tel: 0113 295 2750 Fax: 0113 295 2761
PRIVATE PRESCRIPTIONS – Conversion to NHS Prescriptions
Dear Patient
Please note that Moorcroft Surgery does not have an obligation to convert privately issued
prescriptions to NHS prescriptions. We reserve the right for GPs to assess such requests on an
individual basis and use their personal discretion and judgement.
You may take a privately-issued prescription to any Pharmacy and bear the cost yourself but
please note that the cost will be the price of the medication and NOT the standard NHS
prescription fee.
Requests to convert Private scripts to NHS are not straight-forward and WILL NOT
be processed within our normal 48-hour turnaround target for standard repeat
prescriptions.
Please note that GPs who issue NHS scripts are taking responsibility for the patient’s use of that
medication and for its monitoring. They need to be confident that they have all of the relevant
information available to consider the appropriateness of the medication and any associated risks
(especially in cases where they have not been involved in the referral).
Our prescribers have to adhere to strict guidelines, formularies, licensing information and
protocols applicable to NHS prescriptions. Some items cannot be prescribed in primary care (i.e.
by a GP rather than a hospital consultant). An NHS prescription can only be provided if the
medication would usually be provided on the NHS.
Therefore we will not be able to convert any private prescriptions to NHS prescriptions before we
have received CLEAR and DETAILED information from the relevant Consultant/provider including
their recommendations, dosage, treatment plans and clinical justification. This can take up to 2
weeks and it is NOT our responsibility to chase this up.
Thankyou for your understanding and patience in this matter. We understand it can be frustrating
but patient safety is our priority.
Kind regards
Nikki Ibbotson – Practice Manager (on behalf of the GP Partners)