Prescriptions

NEW October 2022:

We will not prescribe Diazepam for patients who wish to use this for a fear of flying. We have made this decision due to the following reasons

1. Diazepam is a sedative. This means, the medication makes you sleepy and more relaxed. If there were to be an emergency during the flight, this could impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions or react to the situation. This could seriously affect the safety of you and the people around you.
2. Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however, when you sleep it is an unnatural non-REM sleep. This means, your movements during sleep are reduced and this can place you at an increased risk of developing blood clots (DVT). These blood clots are very dangerous and can even prove fatal. This risk further increases if your flight is over 4 hours long.

3. Although most people respond to benzodiazepines like Diazepam with sedation, a small proportion experience the opposite effect and can become aggressive. They can also lead to disinhibition and make you behave in ways you normally wouldn’t. This could also impact on your safety and the safety of your fellow passengers or could lead you to get in trouble with the law.

4. National prescribing guidelines followed by doctors also don’t allow the use of benzodiazepines in cases or phobia. Any doctor prescribing diazepam for a fear of flying would be taking a significant legal risk as this goes against these guidelines. Benzodiazepines are only licensed for short-term use in a crisis in generalised anxiety. If this is the problem you suffer with, you should seek proper care and support for your mental health, and it would not be advisable to go on a flight.

5. In several countries, diazepam and similar drugs are illegal. They would be confiscated, and you might find yourself in trouble with the police for being in control of an illegal substance.

6. Diazepam has a long half-life. This means it stays in your system for a significant time and you may fail random drug testing if you are subjected to such testing as is required in some jobs.

We appreciate a fear of flying is very real and very frightening and can be debilitating. However, there are much better and effective ways of tackling the problem. We recommend you tackle your problem with a Fear of Flying Course, which is run by several airlines. These courses are far more effective than diazepam, they have none of the undesirable effects and the positive effects of the courses continue after the courses have been completed.

For safety reasons we are unable to accept prescription requests over the telephone:

If you are taking regular medication, you can order your prescriptions online via Patient Access or by emailing your Name, Date Of Birth and prescription request to cmicb-wi.gatekeeper-n85027@nhs.net If you haven’t registered for Patient Access yet, please call the Practice so we can set this up for you.

You can also order your prescription in the following ways (however we are currently advising against coming into the surgery unless you absolutely can’t order online from home due to the global pandemic):

• Hand in your repeat green slip with required items ticked
• Use one of the Prescription Request Slips available at the reception desk
• Post your request to the Practice

Electronic Prescription Service (EPS):

If you currently collect repeat prescriptions, you can sign up for the EPS service and will not have to visit your GP practice just to pick up your paper prescription. Instead, your GP will send the prescription electronically to the pharmacy of your choice, saving you time.

The prescription is an electronic message so there is no paper prescription. Please speak to your local pharmacy / chemist to register with them for this service.

Please allow 48 hours before collecting your prescription as once signed by the GP they are filed in reception therefore are not ready to collect before 15:00.

Any prescriptions ordered after 12pm may not be ready until after 3pm in 3 working days time e.g. if ordered at 3pm on Monday may not be ready until Thursday after 3pm.

Medication Reviews:

Patients on repeat medication will be asked to have a consultation with a doctor or pharmacist at least once a year to review these regular medications and notification should appear on your repeat slip. They need to check that your ongoing medication is working adequately and not causing you any problems. Please ensure that you book an appropriate appointment to avoid unnecessary delays to further prescriptions.