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Prescriptions in the NHS App

Patients can request repeat prescriptions, view their prescription details and change their chosen pharmacy.

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What you need to know

Request repeat prescriptions

Patients can request repeat prescriptions in the NHS App. The request is sent to the surgery for sign-off and issued to their chosen pharmacy. 

Acute or repeat dispensing prescriptions cannot be ordered in the NHS App. 

Patients will be able to see all their active repeat medicines in the NHS App, including medicines that cannot be requested yet. This feature is live in TPP practices. It will roll out to Optum practices from June 2026.

If a medicine is temporarily unavailable, the app explains why (for example, if a request is pending, or it’s too soon to order again, or a review is needed) and shows a clearer next available date where possible. This helps reduce confusion where medicines previously appeared to be missing.

To improve usability and meet NHS Design Standards, the notes field now appears on its own screen following the select medicines page in the request repeat prescription journey.

The repeat prescription journey in the NHS App may look slightly different depending on the GP clinical system used by the practice (for example, TPP or Optum).

In your GP clinical system, you can
  • control if patients can order repeat prescriptions
  • give patients full visibility of their repeat prescriptions
  • amend how far before the order date patients can request repeat prescriptions
  • manually change prescription status’ from 'Pending' to 'Approved' or 'Rejected'
  • control if patients must give a reason when requesting prescriptions
  • see medication review dates, when they were last ordered, and prescription types

Features may vary depending on your system supplier.

Check the progress of prescriptions

Some patients can now track their prescriptions; see what suppliers are live with this service.

Medicines record

Patients can view details of their acute (short-term) and repeat prescriptions, including the items prescribed, prescription type (repeat/one-off) and who the prescribing professional is.

Those without a chosen pharmacy can generate a barcode in their NHS App to collect medication at a pharmacy without a paper prescription.  

Request an emergency prescription

If a patient has run out of prescribed medicine and needs some urgently, they can contact NHS 111online to request an emergency prescription in the NHS App.

Chosen pharmacy

Patients can change their chosen pharmacy in the NHS App at any time, to a pharmacy convenient to them. Patients at dispensing practices cannot change their pharmacy.

Patients may not see a confirmed prescription if
  • it’s cancelled or was issued more than 6 months ago
  • it was prescribed for an inpatient to be dispensed by the hospital pharmacy
  • their pharmacy manages their repeat medication supply

Find out more about viewing, ordering and collecting prescriptions in the NHS App.

Benefits for staff and patients

Reduced phone calls and administrative burden
Reduced phone calls and administrative burden
  • patients don’t need to call to request repeat prescriptions or find out the status of prescriptions as they can see it’s being managed. This shortens the telephone queue and frees up staff time to focus on other matters
  • prescribers can save time by scanning barcodes rather than manually searching for prescriptions and dispensers can handle prescription queries prior to collection
More convenience
More convenience
  • patients can request repeat prescriptions 24/7 at their convenience, without having to travel, call or wait for the practice to open
  • patients can change where they collect prescriptions to where it’s most convenient for them at any time and don’t need to travel to collect paper tokens
Greater visibility
Greater visibility
  • patients can see all prescription information in one place, including prescription status’s and when their medications were last ordered
  • there is an improved audit trail; patients can track medications, identify issues earlier and query them before collection
Cost savings
Cost savings
  • prescribers don’t need to print prescription tokens and will need to send fewer text messages with prescription ID during out-of-hours prescribing, reducing printing and SMS costs

Find out what’s new and what’s coming soon with prescriptions in the NHS App roadmap.

Further information

Watch and share the step by step how to request a repeat prescription in the NHS App walk through video.

Resolve common issues with the troubleshooting guide for staff.

Further support for staff and patients can be found on the NHS website.

Last edited: 12 May 2026 3:07 pm