You must request prescriptions 3 weeks in advance of when the medication is needed.
Sending prescription requests in late may result in no medication being sent. Our prescription requests are completed by date of receipt and as a result, we cannot fulfil urgent prescription requests due to there not always being a clinician available to provide these.
Do not send in your prescription requests earlier than 3 weeks in advance as they will not be processed.
Going on holiday
Please make sure you have enough medications to last the holiday period. We may not be able to issue last moment prescriptions. These are controlled drugs. If you are taking medications into the cabin, airline staff may ask for proof of medication use. Please remember to take your last clinic letter as proof of prescribed medication. You do not need a separate letter for this.
Prescription deadline
Prescriptions must be collected within 28 days of the date of issue. After 28 days, the pharmacy will not issue the medications.
If the pharmacy only gives you a portion of your prescribed medication (i.e if they don’t have the full amount in stock) you must return back within 28 days of date of the issue of the original prescription to collect the remainder.
Lost or damaged prescriptions
If you lose or damage your prescription, please inform the prescription line immediately. As these are controlled medications, any lost prescriptions are also monitored nationally.
If the child or young person changes their medication and are issued a new prescription, any medications remaining should be returned to the pharmacy. This is because these are controlled medications.
Side effects
Please make sure that you read the ‘Medication Information Leaflet’ which comes with the medication pack. Familiarise yourself with possible side effects. In general terms, heart-related problems such as chest pain, palpitations (heart beating fast at rest) and unusual fainting episodes are potentially serious. You need to seek medical advice urgently before administering the next dose. Most other side effects are not serious enough to stop medications. If you think your child is experiencing side effects from medications, please contact us on 0151 282 4930.
Weight loss caused by poor appetite is a common side effect
This is why we monitor the child or young person’s height and weight. If this happens, we will have to stop the medication. Therefore please be extra vigilant about your child’s diet. Insist on them having a good breakfast. You may try extra meals such as a late supper.
Drug interactions
Two or more medications given at the same time for different ailments may cross-react. If you child is prescribed any other medications, please check with the prescriber if that medication might cross-react with the ADHD medication.
Medication breaks
The aim of ADHD medications is to improve your child’s school performance. ADHD medications do this by improving attention and concentration in schoolwork. Additionally, they are known to reduce hyperactivity and impulsivity. With the help of medications, your child will be able to learn these skills and use them in day-to-day life. After a sufficient period of time on medications, your child may be able to learn and adopt these skills without the help of medications.
Some parents decide not to medicate their child during weekends or long holidays. With this approach, time taken to learn the above skills will be much more prolonged. NICE guidelines 2018 recommend ‘drug holidays’ only if there are adverse effects such as weight loss. For more information, please discuss this with your clinician.
Discontinue (stop) medications
If the harm from taking medications outweighs the benefits at any point in time, we would consider stopping medications.
Please speak to your pharmacist if you have any queries.