Dear Patients,
At Quay Lane Surgery, we are proud to serve the community of St. Germans and the surrounding catchment area in East Cornwall. As a small rural dispensing GP practice, we not only provide medical care but also supply essential medications directly to many of our patients — a service that is especially important in an area where pharmacy access is limited.
In recent years, online pharmacies such as Pharmacy 2U, Simply Meds, Pharmacy Online and others have promoted their services to patients, offering free delivery of medications by post. While these options may appear convenient at first glance, we want to explain why we are unable to support these requests, and why this choice has real implications for the future of our local services.
Why Dispensing Matters at Quay Lane Surgery
Dispensing prescriptions to our patients is a vital part of how we operate. For rural practices like ours, the income generated from dispensing medications helps fund:
- GP and nurse appointments
- Chronic disease monitoring and prevention
- Home visits for housebound patients
- Emergency medication supply
- A full range of NHS services provided locally
Without this income, it would be extremely difficult — if not impossible — to maintain the level of care we currently provide to the local community. Our ability to remain open and sustainable is closely tied to our ability to dispense.
Why We Have Chosen Not to Offer EPS (Electronic Prescription Service)
You may have heard of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS), which allows prescriptions to be sent digitally to a nominated pharmacy.
At Quay Lane Surgery, we have made the decision not to enable EPS. This is because, in rural dispensing practices, EPS presents serious risks:
- It enables pharmacies and online pharmacies to approach patients directly, often encouraging them to switch providers.
- Prescriptions can be diverted without full understanding of the consequences.
- Once a prescription is nominated to a pharmacy or on online pharmacy, we lose the ability to dispense it locally, and the associated funding is lost.
We have no control or oversight of this process once EPS is enabled, and patients are often unaware that their decisions can affect the long-term viability of their local surgery.
Clarifying Misleading Claims from Online Pharmacies
We are aware that some online pharmacies suggest they are working in partnership with local GP practices, or imply that we support or recommend their services. This can be confusing and misleading.
To be clear: Quay Lane Surgery does not work in partnership with any online pharmacy. We do not endorse or collaborate with them, and we do not share patient information or prescription details beyond the standard NHS processes.
If you receive a message, letter, email or phone call from an online pharmacy suggesting otherwise, we encourage you to treat it with caution and speak to us if you have any concerns. Patients have told us they believed the pharmacy was working with us — only to find their prescriptions had been diverted and were no longer available locally.
We Respect Patient Choice — But Ask You to Be Fully Informed
We completely respect that you have the right to choose where and how your prescriptions are dispensed. If an online pharmacy is the right choice for you, that is entirely your decision.
However, we ask that you make this choice fully informed and with an understanding that moving your prescriptions away from our surgery means:
- We are no longer able to dispense your medications at the practice
- We lose funding that supports your care
- The viability of our rural practice becomes increasingly at risk
- You will need to manage sending your prescriptions to your chosen pharmacy yourself
What may feel like a personal convenience can — when repeated by many patients — result in the loss of a vital community service.
How You Can Help
- If you’re happy with our service, please continue to collect your prescriptions from Quay Lane Surgery.
- If you receive a message from an online pharmacy, you are under no obligation to respond or agree to transfer your prescription.
- If you need help with medication collection or have difficulty attending the surgery, please speak to us first, we may be able to help.
Thank You for Supporting Your Local Surgery
We are proud to be part of the St. Germans and East Cornwall community, and we remain committed to providing accessible, compassionate, and high-quality healthcare to our patients.
By continuing to collect your prescriptions from Quay Lane Surgery, you are directly supporting the sustainability of your local health service — helping us remain here, for you and your neighbours, now and in the future.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
With thanks and best wishes,
The Quay Lane Surgery Team