ABSTRACT
Repeat prescribing is the UK solution to the problem of ensuring continuous supplies of medication to patients on continuing treatment. The Audit Commission believes that repeat prescribing probably accounts for about two thirds of all items dispensed in England and Wales. The total cost of repeat prescriptions, though huge, is not inherently a problem so long as the drugs provided are effective, safe, well-tolerated and appropriate, and the patients' therapeutic needs are valid. The pharmaceutical companies see established repeats as being so entrenched that they comprise sealed-off opportunities, preventing them from introducing a new product for those patients. General practitioners (GPs) often admit to feelings of guilt about repeat prescribing. This chapter examines how repeats should be organized so as to achieve the best compromise between efficiency of production and of control. There is always a trade-off between the two. Control takes time and delays the production of repeats.
