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Originally Posted by DanaC

You can request the generic medicine here too. The prescription calls for the medication, rather than the brand ( so Salbutamol, not Ventolyn)

Actually some GPs still prescribe by brand name - we did a lot of work on that when I was working for the PCT. It unsettles some patients - especially older patients - when their medication changes appearance because of price changes on the Drugs List. When a prescription is made out for a generic drug, the drug you receive can be different every month, or vary from pharmacy to pharmacy depending on their stock. Some patients convince themselves that the little blue pills in the yellow packet were much better than the white ones in the red packet. I know, they used to phone up my team to complain (after the GP's receptionist said it wasn't the doctor's fault and gave them our phone number).

In fact there are some cases when it is cheaper for the GP to specify as long as he is working in tandem with his pharmacist - but we tried to keep that quiet because of the many many cases when that isn't the case