# Repeat Prescriptions



## Dot-dot (Aug 19, 2015)

Hi 

Can anyone enlighten me on the procedure in Spain for repeat prescriptions?

Do you just pop in a list of your requirements at the surgery (as we do here in Scotland). Or do we have to see el medico every time?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

PS - Great site! Lots of very useful info for us two 'soon to be' Brits in Spain.

Dot


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Dot-dot said:


> Hi
> 
> Can anyone enlighten me on the procedure in Spain for repeat prescriptions?
> 
> ...


it depends where you live

here in the Valencia region we are issued with a paper prescription for perhaps a year, which has monthly prescriptions on it, dated, number of packets etc.

at the end of that time, you have to return to the centro de salud & either you will be issued with another prescription, or you will have to see the doctor first, depending on your notes

in other areas, all the info is stored on your medical card & there's no paper prescription at all


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

I am diabetic and here in Toledo all my meds are on my medical card so I just pop into the Farmacia and they just swipe my card. I have to visit my doctor every 12 months for him to review my meds.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Visit Doctor every three months, he provides the prescription.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

My doctor here in Andalucia gave me a prescription for 9 months of my medication. The prescription is stored on my medical card which I take to the farmacia each month to get a new supply, and at the end of the 9 months I will need to see the doctor again to get a renewed prescription.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> it depends where you live
> 
> here in the Valencia region we are issued with a paper prescription for perhaps a year, which has monthly prescriptions on it, dated, number of packets etc.
> 
> ...


Yes - same here - my region issues a paper prescription for a year. The only thing is that whats
prescribed - for example Cadesartan, tends to run out of stock in the pharmacist's 
quite a lot - with a 4 or 5 week wait before the next stock arrive.

Now here's a question - as Expats with regular prescriptions are no doubt aware,
those drugs acquired on Prescription, have a tag on the little box or packet that 
the Pharmacist prizes off with a pen knife.
Therefore can those Expats 'in the know' explain the significance of these tags and
what they are used for. As I can only assume - it's some sort of subsidy or extra
payment that the pharmacist can claim by collecting the tags.

Finally are there 2 sorts of the same drugs that the Pharmacist stocks, those with
tags that are 'on prescription drugs' and those without tags - which are drugs 
'off prescription'

Now Candersartan is a case in point - as this particular drug can be obtained both
on and off prescription in Spain whereas in the UK - its a strictly 'on prescription'
form of medication.
Perhaps there's others but I cannot help wondering that when the Pharmacist runs
out of stock of the 'on prescription' drug - when presented with the paper 
prescription. The same patient can return an hour or two later and ask the same
Pharmacist for Candesartan, for the Pharmacist to present him with the 'off
precription', Candesartan, no problem.
In other words the Pharmacist didn't run out of Candesartan, only the tagged
ones !!!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Here, I get a year's worth on my card and then have to see the medico for renewal. The Farmacia, marks the medicine's packet when I am on the last one of that particular medication. The only exception is if Dr is trying something different and wants to see the results before committing to a year's prescription.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Williams2 said:


> Yes - same here - my region issues a paper prescription for a year. The only thing is that whats
> prescribed - for example Cadesartan, tends to run out of stock in the pharmacist's
> quite a lot - with a 4 or 5 week wait before the next stock arrive.
> 
> ...


When your card is read, it comes up on the computer screen. The Pharmacist will usually read over them to make sure that you want them all, then they are printed out on a picking list. The barcode tags that they take from the packets are then stuck to the picklist against each med (to show that they were supplied) and the list then goes off to accounts for the costs to be reimbursed.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

baldilocks said:


> When your card is read, it comes up on the computer screen. The Pharmacist will usually read over them to make sure that you want them all, then they are printed out on a picking list. The barcode tags that they take from the packets are then stuck to the picklist against each med (to show that they were supplied) and the list then goes off to accounts for the costs to be reimbursed.


Thanks - I would also be curious to know if Candesartan is an 'off prescription' drug
in Spain - as I'm sure that in the GP's eyes - it shouldn't be sold over the counter
without a prescription.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Our system provides a card with 6 months meds except that very often after two months the card is empty and we have to go back to the Doc at which point he/she throws their arms up in despair and refill the cards.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Do we live in the same country?????


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Makes you wonder...


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Williams2 said:


> Thanks - I would also be curious to know if Candesartan is an 'off prescription' drug
> in Spain - as I'm sure that in the GP's eyes - it shouldn't be sold over the counter
> without a prescription.


As far as I can find, by reference to Vademecum, it IS a prescription-only drug.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

thrax said:


> Our system provides a card with 6 months meds except that very often after two months the card is empty and we have to go back to the Doc at which point he/she throws their arms up in despair and refill the cards.


How can that happen ? Here you can only obtain 1 month at a time & cannot get any more until 28 days have passed. There is no facility on the prescription to obtain any in advance of the prescribed dates if you are going away.


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

We are also in the Valencia health region. My husband has a couple of repeat prescriptions, as others have said, with a paper prescription saying when and how many of the medication are due.

One thing though that it took me a while to realise is that, if you go to the doctor for something else and he gives you a prescription for a new drug, it goes on the existing prescription and he prints out a new sheet. This is the paper you must take to the farmacia for your repeat prescription not the previous one.

For example, because of an infection the doctor put my husband on a short course of antibiotics. The prescription he printed showed his regular medication plus another entry showing the antibiotics. When I went for his next lot of the regular medication the Pharmacist said he could not use that one as a new prescription had superseded it. I had to go home and get the piece of paper with the antibiotics on.

Seems like a strange system


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

baldilocks said:


> Here, I get a year's worth on my card and then have to see the medico for renewal. The Farmacia, marks the medicine's packet when I am on the last one of that particular medication. The only exception is if Dr is trying something different and wants to see the results before committing to a year's prescription.


Exactly the same for me. The card has always worked, and the only problem is that sometimes the pharmacy forgets to mark when I'm on the last packet of any particular medication. So I've gone to buy medication and been told that they can't sell it to me because my prescription needs to be renewed. Not the system's fault - it's human error. As far as I can see, Andalucia has the best system.

As for buying in advance if I'm going away, the pharmacy sells me my medication but at full cost. Then when I return from my trip I bring them the medication box and the receipt, and they refund me what I'm owed. I would ask to be sure your pharmcy will do this, but I've never been told no at any pharmacy where I've asked.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

DunWorkin said:


> We are also in the Valencia health region. My husband has a couple of repeat prescriptions, as others have said, with a paper prescription saying when and how many of the medication are due.
> 
> One thing though that it took me a while to realise is that, if you go to the doctor for something else and he gives you a prescription for a new drug, it goes on the existing prescription and he prints out a new sheet. This is the paper you must take to the farmacia for your repeat prescription not the previous one.
> 
> ...


Very strange. If we get something new or an exceptional such as a course of antibiotics for something, that is all that prints on the piece of paper, otherwise its all on the card and only gets put on paper when it is renewed (once a year.)


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

kalohi said:


> As for buying in advance if I'm going away, the pharmacy sells me my medication but at full cost. Then when I return from my trip I bring them the medication box and the receipt, and they refund me what I'm owed. I would ask to be sure your pharmcy will do this, but I've never been told no at any pharmacy where I've asked.


Much depends on your relationship with the pharmacy. If we are going to be away, when something runs out we get it 'on loan' and the pharmacy assistant takes the barcode tag and tapes it to a plain piece of paper with your name. Then when you next go in and the medication comes up for dispensing, the tag is transferred from the plain piece of paper onto the pick-list which then goes for payment. We can also buy most (none have ever been refused) medications over the counter.


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## Dot-dot (Aug 19, 2015)

Thanks to everyone, this is a brilliant site, and very helpful. Enjoyable reading.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> Much depends on your relationship with the pharmacy. If we are going to be away, when something runs out we get it 'on loan' and the pharmacy assistant takes the barcode tag and tapes it to a plain piece of paper with your name. Then when you next go in and the medication comes up for dispensing, the tag is transferred from the plain piece of paper onto the pick-list which then goes for payment. We can also buy most (none have ever been refused) medications over the counter.


No can't do that here.They are due every 28 days. If you cannot go in & are over 7 days past then you cannot have those which are due.You've 'lost' them & can have no more for 28 days. that' waht they tell me although I've never had cause to try it out.
I can get anything over the counter . In future when or if I go away I'll just get a friend to go in at the relevant intervals & pick up the meds.


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## Shericarol (Nov 8, 2020)

Hi, we're moving to Malaga end of this month. Where do I get a medical card as I need repeat prescriptions. TIA


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Shericarol said:


> Hi, we're moving to Malaga end of this month. Where do I get a medical card as I need repeat prescriptions. TIA


Welcome  

Will you have access to the Spanish public healthcare system? In other words will you be working here, or will you benefit from an S1?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

It depends - on what basis will you be( eligible to use the Spanish public health system? If you will be working or self-employed and paying social security contributions in Spain, then you'll need to get a Spanish social security number from the TGSS (social security office) and (I think) they will also issue you with a document confirming your entitlement to health cover which you then take to your nearest public health centre (centro de salud) to register with a doctor after which you'll be issued with a medical card (tarjeta sanitaria). If you are UK state pensioners and have an S1 form from the DWP confirming that the UK Government will pay Spain for your healthcare, the procedure is a bit different. You take that form to the INSS office (a different social security office!) and they register it then the document confirming your entitlement to Spanish public healthcare is sent to you by post, which again you then take to the centro de salud to register there and subsequently get your tarjeta sanitaria.

At the moment things are made more complicated by the corona virus pandemic though. You will need to make appointments in advance (either online or by ringing up) to visit any social security offices. Once you are registered with a doctor, the procedure for getting an appointment or a repeat prescription is also different from how it was before. Now you need to request an appointment with the doctor (a cita previa) and the doctor will phone you (the one time I've done this since the pandemic started, my doctor phoned back at 9am the next morning) to check what you need and will either process the repeat prescription, or if it's a new health issue, ask about your symptoms and make a diagnosis and issue a prescription if needed, or give you an appointment for you to go in for a face to face consultation if it's necessary. If you don't yet speak Spanish all of this is going to be quite difficult, I'm afraid. 

If you can get your UK doctor to give you as much of your current medications as possible, to tide you over whilst all these procedures have to be gone through, I strongly recommend that you do so. 

If you don't have entitlement to Spanish public healthcare (if early retired, for example) then you'll need to have private health insurance for at least your first year of residence in Spain, so in those circumstances it would just be a question of getting an appointment with the doctor of your choice from your insurance company's directory of which doctors or clinics they authorise you to use, and asking the doctor for a prescription. That would involve paying the full cost of whatever medications you need, though.


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## Nomoss (Nov 25, 2016)

Shericarol said:


> Hi, we're moving to Malaga end of this month. Where do I get a medical card as I need repeat prescriptions. TIA


For a start, read the four sections under "Spain" here? Help for British nationals overseas: Europe - detailed information - GOV.UK


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I made a request here in Andalusia for a repeat prescription vi the SaludResponde app on my mobile.


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## Shericarol (Nov 8, 2020)

mrypg9 said:


> I made a request here in Andalusia for a repeat prescription vi the SaludResponde app on my mobile.


Ok I will check it out. Thanks


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Shericarol said:


> Ok I will check it out. Thanks


You would need to be registered with the Andalucian public health service via the process described above before you could use the SaludResponde app.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

mrypg9 said:


> I made a request here in Andalusia for a repeat prescription vi the SaludResponde app on my mobile.


How did you do it, Mary? When I needed one there wasn't an option on the app to request a repeat prescription, so I had to request an appointment with the doctor who phoned me back and I then asked for the prescription. I checked today and there still doesn't seem to be an option on the app to ask for a repeat prescription, unless I've overlooked something.


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## Beach buddy (Jul 7, 2018)

Lynn R said:


> How did you do it, Mary? When I needed one there wasn't an option on the app to request a repeat prescription, so I had to request an appointment with the doctor who phoned me back and I then asked for the prescription. I checked today and there still doesn't seem to be an option on the app to ask for a repeat prescription, unless I've overlooked something.


You only have to take your card to the health Centre, say it is for a repeat prescription and he doesn’t there and then.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

All my repeats are on my health card... just take to chemist. One offs ie antibiotics etc are also put on but with a limitation on dates


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Megsmum said:


> All my repeats are on my health card... just take to chemist. One offs ie antibiotics etc are also put on but with a limitation on dates


Yes, so are mine, but the doctor has to issue a new prescription for the regular medications after a certain period - he usually does mine for a year and once that expires I have to ask for a new one.

Hope you are home now after your surgery, by the way, and recovering well. It was good that you were able to get it done despite the pandemic.


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