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Understanding NHS rules, where you can get hospital medicines dispensed, and what to expect
If you’ve recently been treated in hospital, whether in A&E, an outpatient clinic or after a short stay, you may leave with a handwritten or printed hospital prescription. Many people are unsure what to do next and ask the same question:
“Can you take a hospital prescription to any pharmacy?”
The short answer is: usually yes, but with a few important exceptions.
Here’s a clear breakdown of how it works across the NHS.
In most cases, yes, hospital prescriptions can be taken to any community pharmacy for dispensing.
However, it depends on:
✔️ What medicine has been prescribed
✔️ Whether the hospital expects their own pharmacy to dispense it
✔️ Whether the item is routinely stocked by community pharmacies
NHS community pharmacies can legally dispense hospital prescriptions as long as the prescription meets legal requirements and the medicine is one they are able to supply.
There are situations where you cannot get your prescription dispensed outside the hospital.
Some medicines are funded only within hospital budgets, not community NHS budgets.
These include:
🔹Chemotherapy medicines
🔹Certain biologics
🔹Specialist injectables
🔹Emergency supply items
🔹Medicines requiring hospital-based monitoring
For these, you will be told that the prescription must be dispensed on-site.
If you are discharged from hospital, you may receive a TTO pack, which the hospital pharmacy dispenses before you leave.
Community pharmacies cannot legally dispense a TTO because it is not a standard FP10 prescription.
Some items simply cannot be dispensed by high-street pharmacies due to handling and storage rules.
A hospital prescription can usually be taken to any community pharmacy when:
✔️ The medicine prescribed is standard and commonly used
✔️ The prescription is written on a valid hospital FP10
✔️ The item does not require specialist approval or funding
✔️ The community pharmacy has the stock (or can order it within 24–48 hours)
Typical examples include:
🔹Antibiotics
🔹Pain relief
🔹Eye drops
🔹Steroid tablets
🔹Simple inhalers
If unsure, your pharmacist will check whether the item can be supplied under NHS rules.
If your local pharmacy says they can’t dispense it, it’s usually due to:
Some hospital-only medicines are funded through specialised NHS contracts.
Hospitals often prescribe medicines that community pharmacies do not typically keep.
If the prescription is not written on a valid FP10 or lacks essential details, the pharmacy legally cannot dispense it.
If the medicine requires monitoring, blood tests or clinical oversight, the pharmacy must redirect you to the hospital.
Yes, if you normally pay NHS prescription charges, then hospital-issued FP10s follow the same rules as GP prescriptions.
However:
🔹Medicines dispensed directly by the hospital are usually free,
🔹Medicines dispensed at any community pharmacy follow normal NHS prescription charges.
Yes. Many hospitals now use Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) for outpatient clinics.
This allows:
🔹The hospital prescriber to send your prescription electronically
🔹You can collect from any nominated community pharmacy
🔹Faster and more convenient dispensing
Not all hospitals have switched to EPS yet, but it is expanding quickly across England.
✔️ Ask if the item can be ordered
Most standard medicines can arrive within 24 hours.
✔️ Return to the hospital pharmacy
If the medicine is urgent or specialist, the hospital must dispense it.
✔️ Call NHS 111 for advice
They can direct you to a pharmacy or out-of-hours service.
✔️ Ask the pharmacist to contact the prescriber
Sometimes a simple amendment or substitution makes the prescription dispensable.
So, can you take a hospital prescription to any pharmacy?
Often yes, but not always.
Community pharmacies can handle many hospital prescriptions, but specialist medicines, TTO packs, or restricted items must stay within hospital care. When in doubt, your pharmacist will guide you to the safest and most appropriate option.
1. Do all pharmacies accept hospital prescriptions?
Most do, provided the prescription is valid and the medicine is suitable for community supply.
2. Why did my pharmacy tell me to go back to the hospital?
Likely because the medicine is a hospital-only item or not stocked in community settings.
3. Are hospital prescriptions free?
Free only when dispensed by the hospital.
Normal NHS prescription charges apply at community pharmacies unless you’re exempt.
4. Can a hospital prescription be sent to my usual pharmacy electronically?
Increasingly yes, as more hospitals adopt the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).
5. What if the medicine is urgent and the pharmacy doesn’t have it?
Return to the hospital pharmacy—they must supply urgent medicines directly.
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