Getting a prescription
To get a prescription, you’ll need to see a Tend doctor so we can understand your medical condition and discuss your treatment options.
This consult can be done online or in-clinic.
You can select your preferred pharmacy in the app and our team will have your prescription sent directly to the pharmacy for you to pick up.
If you have an online consult, you may need to visit the clinic before we can issue your prescription - but if that's the case, there will be no charge for the additional clinic appointment, provided it is done within 24 hours of your online consult.
The issuing of prescriptions is at the discretion of the doctor.
Ordering repeats
If you are enrolled with us and on any long term medications, you'll see they are conveniently preloaded in the app.
If you're due for a repeat / refill, we'll send you a reminder when you're running low and you can reorder in the app.
Depending on your circumstances and the medication, we may request that you see a Tend doctor in-person before receiving a new prescription.
See the video below on how to order repeats.
What types of medication can you prescribe online?
Our clinicians can prescribe many medications, if required. There may be some circumstances when we are unable to provide a prescription due to New Zealand medication regulations.
- Short term medication
During your consultation the clinician may decide you need a short course of medication, such as an antibiotic, to help with your condition.
- Long term medication
If you require ongoing medication for a long-term condition, we encourage you to see your regular doctor to issue your medication so they can monitor your health over time. If you are enrolled with Tend our team can issue your long term medications.
- Controlled medication
The prescribing of controlled medications such as strong pain killers, sedatives and stimulants require close monitoring by your regular GP. As a result these cannot normally be prescribed by our online clinicians unless you are enrolled with Tend and we have visibility of your health records.
- Urgent medication
If you are running low on a regular medication and have not been able to get a repeat from your regular GP, an urgent prescription for a short dose can be issued by our team to see you through.
Issuing of antibiotics
Antibiotics aren’t aways the best treatment for some common infections. In fact, they can’t fix a virus like a cold or flu, and are not usually needed to treat most ear infections.
We need to use antibiotics carefully, or they’ll stop working.
Overusing antibiotics, especially when we don’t need to, is causing antibiotic resistance. This is when bacteria get better at defending themselves and our antibiotics don’t work as well.
Over time, antibiotics could stop working when we need them to, putting people’s lives at risk.
So if your doctor advises you that antibiotics aren’t necessary, take their advice as we need to help keep antibiotics working for when we do need them.
