*Nods* I suppose it could depend on what was being prescribed. I gather from the receptionist (who may not have been telling the whole truth for all I know) that they print out the prescription and take it to the doctor who signs it. They can't make any changes, and they won't/don't ask the doctor to make changes.

The stuff I get mostly isn't OTC stuff, and none of it is exactly innocuous, but even the non-repeat stuff isn't very hard to get hold of either: it seems to be quite easy to just say "give me foo", without what I'd think of as a "proper" check that you really should have it. (e.g. "Please give me X specific brand of excema cream" gets the response of "Here you are" not "Do you have excema?" or "Show me the sore patch")