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How to Get an Emergency Supply of Medicine

Image: How to Get an Emergency Supply of Medicine

When a loved one needs medicine in an emergency, knowing how to get it quickly is vital for their wellbeing. This brief guide will help you navigate through the process in the UK effectively and ensure you can help them and keep them safe and well.

It is a common occurrence to run out of an essential and important medicine.  It could happen to your parent in all sorts of circumstances:

  • if they forget to organise their routine prescriptions

  • if they go to stay with a relative and forget to pack their medicine

  • if they go on holiday

  • if they are discharged from hospital without all their medicines

Fortunately, this is a common situation and usually it can be easily rectified.

Strategies for Emergency Medicine Supply: Don’t Panic, Here’s What to Do 

This is a common situation and although your parent might panic at the thought of disrupting their medication routine, it is likely that you will be able to source an emergency replacement supply of their medicine. 

The increasing shift to digital medical records means that it is much easier nowadays for doctors and pharmacists to access essential patient information which can give them the information they need to prescribe or supply emergency medicine safely. 

Nevertheless, the more information you can supply the better and easier it will be to get some replacement medicine. 

There are two possible approaches – the quickest and easiest might be to approach a local out of hours pharmacy or chemist and ask for their help.  Alternatively you can try and speak to a doctor.

You can often access a suitable short term emergency medicine supply of medicine by speaking to a high street pharmacist or 24 hour chemist and explaining the situation.

This will be quicker and easier if you have some proof of identity and regular use of that medicine – perhaps an old prescription slip or some old packaging or container.

The pharmacist will need to discuss the matter with you to understand the situation, the importance of ongoing treatment, who usually prescribes the medicine and what sort of dose might be appropriate. In surgery hours, they might contact the GP surgery and discuss the request with them.

If the pharmacist is not satisfied that the request is appropriate they may not supply the medicine. If they agree with the request they might issue an emergency prescription supply for up to 30 days of treatment.

Some medicines are under such tight control – typically morphine based painkillers or some medicines to treat epilepsy – that a pharmacist will not issue these in any circumstances.

Beware, some pharmacies might actually charge for this service and/or the medicine.

Alternative options include:

  • contacting the GP surgery
  • phoning NHS 111
  • request a consultation at the nearest walk in centre

    • In all settings you will need to explain the situation and the doctor will be able to advise on how urgent or important it is to get a replacement medicine and the practical arrangements for doing so.
    They might be able to issue an emergency prescription which you can take to, or collect from, a pharmacy and some walk-in centres might even dispense certain medicines.

    As for pharmacies, arranging a supply of controlled medicines will be much harder.

    If it’s an emergency and you’ve tried all of the above unsuccessfully you will need to contact the nearest A&E department.

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    First Published November 2023

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