The discharge medicines process begins when the hospital doctor tells you that you can go home. If you need medicines to take home, the doctor must prescribe them on a discharge prescription. The doctor may not be able to do this straight away, for example, if other patients need to be seen on the ward round or when very ill patients need to take priority.

Once completed the electronic discharge prescription will be sent to the pharmacy. The pharmacy staff will make sure that the prescribed medicines are the right ones for you and that they are labelled with the correct instructions for use. Your discharge medicines will then be delivered to the ward, where nursing staff will provide you with information about them including what each medicine is for and any common side effects associated with your medicines. You will have at least two-week’s supply of your regular prescribed medicines to take home (or one week’s supply if you take your medicines from a pharmacy-filled compliance aid) including any medicines that you started during your stay in hospital. This will give you time see your GP and arrange to get ongoing supplies of your medicines if you need them. Your GP will also receive a copy of your discharge prescription within a week of you leaving hospital.

Please note: we can only dispense hospital outpatient (white) prescription forms issued by prescribers at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust where the medicine needs to be started within the week. Otherwise you will be given a treatment advice note to take to your GP.We cannot dispense FP10 (green) prescriptions issued to you by your GP; please take these to a community pharmacy.