Medicines Order Line (MOL)

When you telephone the MOL, the Medicine Order Line Operative (MOLO) will ask you:

• Which surgery you attend
• Your date of birth
• Your name
• The first line of your address

If it is the first time you have called the MOL, the MOLO will ask for your consent to access your medical record held at the GP practice:

1. If you agree to this, your consent is recorded so you will not be asked for permission again.
2. If you do not agree to this, the MOLO will not be able to access your medical record to process your prescription request and you will need to use an alternative method to order your medication.

You should phone the MOL when you have up to 7 days of your medication left.  If you try to order too early, then you will be asked to call again 7 days (or 5 working days) before you are due to run out. This is so you can order on a regular cycle.

The MOL service is open between 8.00am-4.00pm, Monday-Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).

If your day for re-ordering medication falls on a Bank Holiday, you can call the MOL on the working day before the Bank Holiday to order.  Allowances are made throughout the year for ordering prescriptions near to upcoming Bank Holidays and this information is shared with GP practices. 

Yes, it is possible for a representative (3^rd party) to order medications directly from the MOL on your behalf.

If consent for a 3^rd party to order your medication has previously been given and documented on the patient record, the prescription requests can be processed in the same way as above.

If we do not have consent for a caller to order on behalf of yourself, we can still process the order, but the caller must be able to give all 3 patient identifiers (your name, date of birth, address) and name all of the medications required.

We cannot discuss any personal details, change the nominated pharmacy, discuss any medications, or name the pharmacy that the prescription will go to.

When you submit the online ordering form, the MOLO will check:

• Which surgery you attend
• Your date of birth
• Your name
• The first line of your address

Your order form will be actioned within 2 working days of receiving the request. Online ordering form requests will be processed between 8.00am-4.00pm, Monday-Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).

By proceeding with the form, you are consenting for the MOL to access your medical records to process the request.

Many medications need to be taken regularly on a daily basis, but some only need to be taken when required.

The Medicines Order Line Operative (MOLO) may ask additional questions about these “when required” medications to ensure that you do not already have sufficient stock at home.

If all your oral medications on your prescription are for 7 to 14 days, please order through your GP practice as these are usually managed by your GP or pharmacy.

7 and 14 day prescriptions cannot be ordered through the MOL.

When using the MOL, your prescriptions will be sent electronically to the pharmacy of your choice.

The pharmacy nomination can be changed at any time, and you don’t have to use the same pharmacy each month.

All patients are encouraged to order their prescriptions in advance ensuring enough time for the prescriptions to be signed by a GP and processed by the pharmacy.

Once a prescription has been ordered, it can take up to 7 days (5 working days, excluding weekends and Bank Holidays) for the prescription to be authorised at your GP practice and prepared at the pharmacy. For this reason, the MOL will accept prescription requests up to 7 days before the medication due date.

Allowances are made for Bank Holidays throughout the year and this information is shared with GP practices.

All patients are encouraged to order their prescriptions in advance ensuring enough time for the prescriptions to be signed by a GP and processed by the pharmacy. The MOL will accept prescription requests 7 days before the medication due date.

The MOL is not a service intended for urgent or emergency medication requests. If after your prescription has been ordered, you then need the medication urgently, please contact your pharmacy in the first instance to see if the prescription has already been sent to them. If not, you can contact your GP practice to chase up the prescription.

If you run out of your medication at the weekend or on a Bank Holiday when the MOL or your GP Practice is closed, then please call NHS 111, who may be able to issue an emergency prescription to cover the time before services open again.

Yes, the Medicines Order Line Operative (MOLO) has access to your medical record held at your GP practice. However, they will only access the areas required to process your repeat prescription request.

Consent is required before accessing any of your medical records.

If you have several repeat prescriptions for medications which are not due at the same time our team will be able to help you by synchronising all your medications to the same length of treatment (usually 28 or 56 days). This means that they will all run out at the same time, and you will only need to order once in the month.

Some medications which you only take when you need them, such as asthma inhalers which contain 200 doses, will not fit into this schedule, so the Medicines Order Line Operative (MOLO) will check what stock you currently have before making an order. 

No, your repeat list of medicines won’t be changed, and you will be able to order it again as soon as you need it.

You can also request items that are not on your repeat list via the MOL.

If you are going away and need to order sufficient medication so that you don’t run out during your holiday, then you can contact the MOL and let them know your situation.

A request can then be made to your GP practice for an early prescription.

The MOL answers an average of 4,500 calls a day, so there will be times when it takes a bit longer to get through. As with GP practices, the busiest time is as soon as the service opens at 8.00am and the busiest day is Monday. Please hold in the call queue if possible and an operative will answer your call as soon as possible.

If you have access to the internet, you can submit a MOL online ordering form.  Your order form will be actioned within 2 working days of receiving the request.

This service is currently only available in Derbyshire if your GP practice has signed up to the MOL.

To confirm if your practice is registered with the MOL please see our website.

The MOL will confirm your nominated pharmacy at every order so that you are aware of the prescription destination.

You can change this at any time which enables patients who do not use a regular pharmacy to still have an electronic prescription sent to a convenient location.

If you are on regular daily medication, there is a possibility that you would be suitable for electronic repeat dispensing (eRD) which means that the GP would authorise a batch of prescriptions for you to collect directly from the pharmacy each month.

Please discuss this with your GP practice to see if you would be suitable for this.

All medication has a shelf life, and if you keep it for too long it may become ineffective or dangerous. If your medication is changed and you have old stock at home, it is easy to mix up packets, which could potentially be dangerous.

Having excess medication in the home also poses a safety issue. Medicine should be stored out of reach and sight of children, but this may be difficult if you have a large amount of medication at home.

Unused prescription medication costs the NHS money. We estimate that in Derbyshire £6.9 million of medicines are wasted every year through the ordering of medications that are not used or needed. If your medication is changed or stopped, any medication that you have in your home would be wasted. This is because medication, once supplied to a patient, cannot be reused, and must be destroyed if returned to a pharmacy.

If you are not satisfied with the assistance you have received from a call handler or the MOL service, please ask to speak to a team leader who will be able to advise you further or explain the process in more detail.

If you wish to make a formal complaint, then please put this in writing to:

Patient Advice & Liaison Service

NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB

Cardinal Square

10 Nottingham Rd

Derby DE1 3QT

Telephone: 0800 032 32 35

Text mobile facility number: 07919 466 212

Email: ddicb.PALS@nhs.net