Table of Contents
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:
- DRUG: include strength (e.g. 40mg) and preparation (e.g. tablets)
- DOSING INSTRUCTIONS: write patient-friendly dose in numbers (e.g. ‘1 tablet’) followed by frequency in words (e.g. ‘four times a day’)
- 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