RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Repeat prescribing: a study prior to the imposition of the limited list JF The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners JO J R Coll Gen Pract FD British Journal of General Practice SP 148 OP 150 VO 36 IS 285 A1 G.B. Grant A1 D.A. Gregory A1 T.D. Van Zwanenberg YR 1986 UL http://bjgp.org/content/36/285/148.abstract AB A diverse group of general practitioners from separate practices kept a record of their repeat prescriptions for a week in March 1985, just prior to the imposition of the Government's limited list of drugs which could be prescribed on the National Health Service. Up to one-fifth of repeat prescriptions needed to be altered to comply with the eventual list. An unexpected finding was the wide differences among the doctors in the proportion of repeat prescriptions that were written as the approved generic names. While the anxieties about generic prescribing have yet to be resolved, the problems of converting repeat prescriptions into generic names requires not only a change in doctors' behaviour, but also clear explanation to reception staff and patients. Such a change could produce considerable financial savings, and might be more effective in this than further imposed restrictions.