Outpatient prescriptions

Sections of the Prescription

• Top (patient details)
  • Name
  • Address
  • Age (in years and months if <5 years)
  • Date of birth
• Middle (medication details)
  • Drug prescription blank box
• Bottom (prescriber details)
  • Prescriber’s signature
  • Date
  • Prescriber’s name and address (usually pre-printed) 

Filling in the drug prescription box

Divide into 3 lines:

1. DRUG: include strength (e.g. 40mg) and preparation (e.g. tablets)
2. DOSING INSTRUCTIONS: write patient-friendly dose in numbers (e.g. ‘1 tablet’) followed by frequency in words (e.g. ‘four times a day’)
3. QUANTITY: write quantity to be dispensed in numbers (e.g. ‘28 tablets’)

Examples of outpatient drug prescriptions

Drug	Dosing instructions	Quantity
Simvastatin 40mg tablets	1 tablet once a day at night	28 tablets
Co-codamol 8/500 tablets	2 tablets as required every 4-6 hours (maximum 8 tablets in 24 hours)	28 tablets
Flucloxacillin 250mg capsules	2 capsules four times a day	20 capsules
Clobetasone butyrate 0.05% ointment	Apply thinly twice a day to affected area for 2 weeks	30g tube
Beclometasone 100micrograms/puff inhaler	2 puffs twice a day	1 inhaler

General points

• If you want anything extra to be on the drug label, write it in inverted commas, e.g. ‘strong painkiller’
• Cross out any unused space in the prescription box