Patients who have regular repeat prescriptions are asked not to request additional supplies of their medication or to ask for it any sooner than it is due.

In line with instructions from the Department of Health and Social Care, island GPs will only prescribe patients a normal supply of their medication and will not be able to provide a repeat prescription in advance of the date it is due.

Health and Social Care Minister David Ashford said: ’It makes sense to supply patients with the meds they require at the time they’re due, and not to allow people to build up supplies at home, albeit I understand this gives some people peace of mind. We are living in difficult times.

’The pandemic is affecting many aspects of our daily lives, and we have to accept that things we took for granted in the past are now more difficult.’

He added: ’There is no particular problem with the supply of medicines to the island, but we need to proceed cautiously. This is a time for insisting on best practice - and that means prescribing in an equitable way that safeguards the supply chain.’