The Repeat Prescription Report, published by Pharmacy2U, was written by Imperial College London health experts, Professor of Practice in Primary Care Waseem Jerjes and Primary Care Research Manager Dr Austen El-Osta.

Professor Jerjes said: ‘Much has changed since the last Repeat Prescription Report in 2017, but the UK's prescribing system is still in transition. Alongside the widespread adoption of the NHS App, the age of GPs writing out paper prescriptions is over, with 97% of prescription orders sent directly to a patient's chosen pharmacy using the electronic prescription service. However, as this year's report shows, the process of getting medicines into people's hands has not shifted as quickly.'

Diabetes medicine is the biggest repeat prescription cost (£1.5bn) with about half of the population (47%) now on regular medication.

Over half (53%) of patients said they had to make a second pharmacy trip as their prescription wasn't ready, a quarter (24%) gave up over the size of a queue, while one in six (17%) said they had health problems due to medication not being ready.

A quarter of adults (25%) did not know online pharmacies can be used to order NHS prescriptions, and 45% wrongly assumed delivery comes at an extra cost. 

More than half of adults (57%) believed having a full digital record of their prescription history would make them feel more in control of their health, while 52% would like to order and arrange delivery of repeat medication entirely through an app.

The report makes five key recommendations: 

• ensure patients can see when their prescription request has been made with regular updates in the process through to delivery
• increase awareness of nominated pharmacies, where patients choose the online or community their prescriptions are sent to, and making switching simpler
• design prescription reminder and support systems for people whose health or socioeconomic conditions mean they are most likely to run out of medication
• use the regular contact of repeat prescribing for prevention, including medicine monitoring, vaccination reminders and tests such as blood pressure checks
• enable a ‘bricks-and-clicks' network where online and community pharmacies can refer patients to each other and share information to improve health outcomes.