Closure of the Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) Service
Information for Patients and the public: Why is the Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) service closing?
NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board has taken the decision to close the Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) service from Friday 29 September 2023.
This is because it has been agreed that direct patient services should be delivered by contracted providers who are registered with the Care Quality Commission. NHS Sussex is not a provider organisation and is not registered with the Care Quality Commission for direct patient services.
Repeat prescription ordering services are already provided by individual GP practices, who are contracted to provide these services to their patients. GP surgeries now have better access to pharmacist support and are better placed to provide this service with some developing their own telephone-based services.
As more online repeat prescription services have become available, for example GP websites and the national NHS app, a centralised POD service provided by NHS Sussex is no longer necessary.
Brighton and Hove, Lewes, the Havens and the High Weald
Is now closed
Prescription Ordering Direct (POD)
Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) service in Brighton and Hove, Lewes, the Havens and the High Weald
Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) is a service in Brighton and Hove, Lewes, the Havens and the High Weald and is an alternative way for people to order their prescriptions.
Who can use the service?
Most practices in Brighton and Hove, Lewes, the Havens and the High Weald area are using POD.
POD practices
How can you help reduce prescription waste?
- Check your medication cupboard before ordering more
- Order your prescription when you have 7 days of medication left
- Let us or your surgery know if you have stopped taking any of your medicines.
How to use POD
Telephone
You can contact POD at, Monday to Friday 8:30-12:00 and 13:00-16:00 (excluding bank holidays).
You will be asked which GP practice you belong to and if you consent to your medical record being accessed to process your prescription request. You will then be asked to confirm your identity by giving personal details such as name and date of birth. Each item on your repeat will be discussed and only those needed will be ordered.
The NHS POD service is provided, on behalf of your GP practice, by NHS Sussex. Your call will be answered by a dedicated and fully trained prescription co-ordinator.
Telephone options
You will be asked to press the correct numerical option on your telephone keypad:
- Press 1 for practices beginning A to B
- Press 2 for practices beginning C
- Press 3 for practices beginning D to L (this will be the option for the Foundry formerly Anchor Fields, River Lodge, St Andrews and School Hill and Havens formerly known as Meridian and Rowe Avenue Surgery)
- Press 4 for practices beginning M to R
- Press 5 for practices beginning S
- Press 6 for practices beginning T to Z
To hear these options again, please press the hash key.
Text
A prescription co-ordinator in the POD team will call you back by the end of the next business day, between 8.00am and 5.00pm.
The text message you provide, along with your phone number, will be held securely by Commify UK Limited (trading as Text Marketer Limited) a company registered in England. It will be accessed only by the CCG’s Medicines Management and Optimisation Service and the data will be deleted once it is read. Any unread messages will be deleted automatically after six months or when the service is terminated if sooner.
NHS Sussex remains the controller of this data and any inquiries or individual rights requests in respect of this data should be addressed to the NHS Sussex Data Protection Officer. For further information about how we manage and protects your data please see our fair processing notice.