The new fees will be:

• $36.00 for a non-urgent prescription

• $43.00 for an urgent same-day prescription

We realise this may be difficult for some people. But unfortunately, as the cost of living goes up, our operational costs go up as well – and so we must increase our fees in order to keep covering these.

We do not receive any subsidy from the Government for prescription costs, meaning we must charge the full amount for the time and expertise applied in providing each prescription. For every medication you request, your doctor must review your notes to ensure the medication, dosage, and frequency are still safe and appropriate for you. It takes a lot more work than the simple press of a button. Please see our FAQs page for answers to some frequently asked questions about our fees and about prescriptions.

If you are facing financial difficulties or if the prescription fee is a barrier to you getting the medication you need, we encourage you to get in touch with us. We are always happy to work out a payment plan with you or see if there are other ways we can assist you.

Please see below for some tips on minimizing your repeat prescription costs:

• If you take multiple medications, request repeat prescriptions for all of your medications at once – even if one of your medications isn’t due to run out yet. If you’re ordering your prescription via the Well portal then you can add a note for your GP that you’re requesting all your medications at once to bring them in line with each other, or if you’re requesting it via reception then you can ask them to pass on the same message.

• If you’re travelling, make sure to pack enough medication for the full trip plus some spare. We often get requests from people who have gone away and either left their medications at home or haven’t brought enough with them and need an urgent prescription sent through. Avoid the extra cost of an additional prescription by making sure you’ve got enough with you on your trip.

• Wherever possible, order your prescription a few weeks before you’re due to run out. This is a good idea for three reasons. The first is that it’s best to have a few weeks’ worth of medication in case of an emergency. The second is that, if your GP needs to see you for a review before they can prescribe for you again, there is plenty of time to book this in. And the third is that it means you won’t need to pay the extra cost of an urgent rather than non-urgent prescription.

• Set a reminder for yourself to order your repeat prescription early.

• Check your stock of all your medication before putting your request through. We often have people ordering some of their medications, and then getting in touch again within a week or two as they’ve realized another medication is running out. Ordering everything at once means you’ll need to make requests less often.

• Have the full list of medications you need at hand when making your request. Requesting your “usual” medications or “the same as last time” is an easy way to miss out on medications you need. Also, reception needs to tick a box next to your requested medication in order to forward the request to your GP, and they may not know which medication is your "sleeping tablet" or "blood pressure tablet" etc. Be specific when making your request.

• If you’re unsure if you still need to be taking a medication, or you think you might be ready to stop taking a medication, consider booking a medication review appointment. This can be booked with our clinical pharmacist (available on Mondays), our Nurse Practitioner Intern (available Mon, Wed-Fri), or your GP.