Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultation they undertook prior to the decision that patients may not order prescriptions by telephone from 1 September; and what assessment they have made of the impact of that decision on (1) individuals, and (2) general practitioners.

We are informed by NHS England and NHS Improvement that the National Health Service has not nationally cancelled any facility for ordering repeat prescriptions. While ordering online has proven hugely popular because of the convenience and ease, this will not be possible for everyone. Ordering of repeat prescriptions is for surgeries to arrange locally. However, national guidance is clear that every local practice must put in place a system for prescriptions, which can include online and phone orders, to meet the needs of their own patients.