> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.clinikehr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Work the prescription list

> Open today's prescription queue in the pharmacy unit, find a script, and take it through to dispensing.

export const AuditNote = ({action = 'This action'}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--info" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      {action} is written to your workspace's audit log with your name, the
      record touched and the time — a HIPAA requirement, and one you can review
      yourself under <strong>Audit Log</strong>. See{' '}
      <a href="/platform/security/audit-log">Audit log</a>.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const StillStuck = ({topic}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--note" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      <strong>Still stuck{topic ? ` with ${topic}` : ''}?</strong>{' '}
      Check <a href="/platform/help/troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</a> first —
      it covers the failures we see most often. If that does not resolve it,{' '}
      <a href="/platform/help/contact-support">contact support</a> and include
      your workspace name and the time the problem happened, so we can find the
      matching entry in your audit log.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const TaskHeader = ({before, time, after}) => <div className="ck-task">
    {before ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Before you start</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{before}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {time ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Takes about</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{time}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {after ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">When you're done</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{after}</p>
      </div> : null}
  </div>;

export const Path = ({steps = []}) => <span className="ck-path">
    {steps.map((s, i) => <span key={i} className="ck-path__step">
        {i > 0 ? <span className="ck-path__sep" aria-hidden="true">
            ›
          </span> : null}
        {s}
      </span>)}
  </span>;

export const Availability = ({editions = ['all'], plans, roles, note}) => {
  const list = editions.includes('all') ? ['clinic', 'pharmacy', 'lims'] : editions;
  return <div className="ck-avail" role="note" aria-label="Feature availability">
      <span className="ck-avail__label">Available in</span>

      {list.map(e => <span key={e} className={`ck-pill ck-pill--${e}`}>
          {EDITION_LABELS[e] || e}
        </span>)}

      {plans ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Plan</span> : null}
      {plans ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--plan">{plans}</span> : null}

      {roles ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Who</span> : null}
      {roles ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--role">{roles}</span> : null}

      {note ? <span className="ck-avail__note">{note}</span> : null}
    </div>;
};

<Availability editions={['clinic']} plans="Enterprise" roles="Pharmacy staff; only a pharmacist gets the dispensing actions" note="Needs the In-house pharmacy care area" />

**Prescription List** is the pharmacy unit's working queue: every script written across the hospital today, waiting for someone at the dispensary to pick it up. It is where a pharmacy shift starts.

<Path steps={['Sidebar', 'Pharmacy', 'Prescription List']} />

<TaskHeader before="The In-house pharmacy care area switched on, and at least one prescription written" time="A minute per script" after="Each script viewed, dispensed or handed on" />

## What you're looking at

The page opens with a greeting and the line **Here's a list of all prescriptions for today!** — a reminder that this is the day's queue, not the archive. For anything older, go to [Prescription history](/hospital/pharmacy/prescription-history).

Above the table:

| Control                     | What it does                                                                      |
| --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Search for prescription** | Filters the list as you type                                                      |
| **New Prescription**        | Opens the prescription form on the [pharmacy station](/hospital/pharmacy/station) |
| **Refresh**                 | Re-reads the queue — useful when a clinician is writing scripts while you work    |
| **View Columns**            | A **Toggle columns** list for showing and hiding columns                          |

The table itself carries eight columns, five of them on by default:

| Column            | Shows                                          | On by default |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ------------- |
| **Patient ID**    | The hospital number you quote back to the ward | Yes           |
| **Patient Name**  | Who the script is for                          | Yes           |
| **Status**        | **Pending** or **Dispensed**                   | Yes           |
| **Prescribed By** | The clinician who wrote it                     | Yes           |
| **Dispensed By**  | Who filled it, once it is filled               | Yes           |
| **Patient Type**  | Outpatient, or **Ward Patient**                | No            |
| **Date**          | When it was written                            | No            |
| **Mode**          | How the medication is taken                    | No            |

A **Ward Patient** badge on a row means the script belongs to an admitted patient, and the row's actions change wording to match — **View Ward Prescription**, **Dispense Ward Prescription**.

The footer sets how many rows you see — **5**, **10**, **20** or **50** **per page** — and tells you how many there are in total.

**Empty states.** A hospital with nothing written today shows **No prescriptions found.** If you have typed in the search box and nothing matches, you get **No prescriptions match your search criteria.** instead — clear the search before concluding the queue is empty.

## Open a script

<Steps>
  <Step title="Find it">
    Enter the patient's name or hospital number in **Search for prescription**. Selecting anywhere on the row opens it, so you rarely need the menu.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the row menu">
    Select **⋯** at the end of the row. **View Details** is always offered, to everyone.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read it in view mode">
    **View Details** opens the script read-only: the medications, quantities, dosage, frequency, duration and any instructions the prescriber left. Use this when a ward rings to ask what was written.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Dispense from the queue

The dispensing actions appear only for staff signed in as a pharmacist. Everyone else sees **View Details** and nothing more.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pick a Pending script">
    Only a script at **Pending** offers **Dispense**. One already at **Dispensed** offers **Update** instead, for correcting what was recorded.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Dispense">
    The script opens in dispensing mode with the prescribed lines in front of you.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Draw the stock against it">
    Recording that medicine physically left the shelf happens in the **Fill Rx** tab of [Inventory](/hospital/supply/inventory) — that is the step that moves stock, links it to the patient, and takes a witness for a controlled item. See [the pharmacy station](/hospital/pharmacy/station) for the full flow.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<AuditNote action="Opening a prescription" />

## Who can do this

Two different gates decide what you get here.

**Role** decides whether the module opens at all. The **Pharmacy** group needs the **In-house pharmacy** care area, and on Enterprise an owner can hide the group from a role entirely under **Settings → Role Navigation**.

**Permission** decides what you may do once inside.

| Action                             | Who by default                               | Governed by                          |
| ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| Open the list and **View Details** | Any staff member the role navigation lets in | Role → route                         |
| **Dispense** / **Update** a script | Pharmacists, owners and managers             | The signed-in user's pharmacist role |
| Write a new script                 | Prescribers and pharmacists                  | Role → route                         |
| Draw the stock in **Fill Rx**      | Pharmacy and stock staff                     | Role → route                         |

Two behaviours surprise people. Enforcement is **opt-in per person** — a colleague never saved in the permissions sheet is unrestricted, which is why the sheet warns **"Saving starts enforcing"**. And a **denied action is recorded** while an allowed one is not; hiding the Pharmacy group from a role is a tidiness measure, not a security boundary.

## Check it worked

* A dispensed script shows **Dispensed** in the **Status** column, with your name under **Dispensed By**.
* The row leaves the pending part of the queue and can be found in [Prescription history](/hospital/pharmacy/prescription-history).
* If you drew stock in **Fill Rx**, the item's on-hand figure in [Inventory](/hospital/supply/inventory) has dropped by what you gave out.

## Common issues

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The list says No prescriptions match your search criteria">
    There is text in **Search for prescription**. Clear it. The other empty state — **No prescriptions found.** — means the queue genuinely has nothing in it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A script a doctor just wrote is not here">
    The queue does not poll continuously. Select **Refresh**. If it still does not appear, check the prescriber saved it rather than leaving the form open.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I only see View Details, with no Dispense">
    The dispensing actions are for pharmacists. Ask an owner or manager to check your role — see [Roles](/platform/team/roles).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I can see the row but the columns I need are missing">
    **Patient Type**, **Date** and **Mode** are hidden by default. Switch them on under **View Columns**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="There is no Pharmacy group in my sidebar">
    It needs the Enterprise plan and the **In-house pharmacy** care area in **Settings → Facility**. See [Care areas](/hospital/get-started/care-areas).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Is this the same list as Prescription History?">
    No. This is today's working queue. History is the cross-day record of everything ever dispensed, and it is the one to search when a patient asks what they were given last month.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why do some rows say Ward Prescription?">
    They belong to an admitted patient, written on the ward rather than in an outpatient clinic. They dispense the same way; only the wording changes.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I correct a script I have already dispensed?">
    A pharmacist gets **Update** on a dispensed row. The original record is not erased — the change is recorded against your name.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does dispensing here take the medicine off the shelf?">
    Not on its own. Stock moves when you draw it in the **Fill Rx** tab of Inventory. Keeping the two steps distinct is what makes the stock figure trustworthy.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I sell a script's items at the counter instead?">
    Ordinary items, yes — see [the pharmacy counter](/hospital/pharmacy/pos). Anything needing a witnessed dispense is refused at the till by design.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<StillStuck topic="the prescription queue" />