Visit your local pharmacy first for seven minor conditions
From today, 31st January, people across Lincolnshire can pop down to their local pharmacy for help with seven minor conditions which would previously have required a GP appointment.
Earlier this year 75% of people said they wanted to see pharmacies offering more healthcare services such as treating urinary tract infections or sore throats, and now they will be. Almost all pharmacies will offer the new service, giving advice and, if needed, NHS medicines, to treat seven common health conditions – and all without needing to get a GP appointment.
As experts in medicines and managing minor illnesses, pharmacists have been backed by Government and the NHS to provide a new NHS ‘Pharmacy First’ service. Over 95% of pharmacies across Lincolnshire have signed up to support people in certain age groups seeking help for sore throats, earache in children, sinusitis, infected insect bites, impetigo, shingles, and urinary tract infections in women.
If you have symptoms that suggest you may have one of these conditions, you can now walk into a pharmacy and be offered a consultation with the pharmacist. Under the new service pharmacists can provide advice and, if clinically necessary, will offer an NHS medicine to treat it (NHS prescription charge apply if you normally pay for medicines supplied on prescription). Should the pharmacy team be unable to help, you will be directed to your GP surgery or A&E as appropriate.
By thinking ‘Pharmacy First’, people will find it easier and quicker to get the help they need and bypass the 8am rush to book an appointment with their GP. The new service is part of a wider expansion of healthcare services that will empower pharmacists to use more of their skills and give people more choice about their healthcare. It is also hoped that the service will be expanded to include more conditions in the future.
Find the new service at a pharmacy near you using the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions-and-pharmacies/
Local pharmacist Andrea Mudamburi of Clover House Pharmacy, Sleaford said:
“My team and I are delighted to be able to offer more support than ever before to the local community. People can get help quickly and easily, GP surgery queues will be reduced, and I can put my clinical skills to good use. It’s a win all round.”
Dr Tracey Latham-Green, Chief Officer of Community Pharmacy Lincolnshire said:
“This new service will give the public more choice about where and when they can access help with minor health conditions. However, it is important to ensure that pharmacies are fully supported as patient behaviour changes and more people visit pharmacies as their first port of call for their common healthcare needs.”
Dean Odell, Lincolnshire Healthwatch Representative said:
“This new service will make it so much easier for people to access the healthcare advice and support they need, when they need it.
Pharmacists are medicines experts and members of the public should feel assured that the healthcare advice they receive from pharmacists and their teams will be second to none.
With all the pressures across the NHS, it’s our responsibility to direct our requests for help to the right place. For common minor illnesses, we should all be thinking ‘Pharmacy First’.”
