Sore throat? Sinusitis? Earache? Think Pharmacy First!

Available right on your doorstep, the NHS Pharmacy First service is delivered by your community pharmacy team and aims to help with seven minor conditions. You don’t need a GP appointment to use Pharmacy First, simply call or walk into your local pharmacy for a confidential consultation. During busy times you may be asked to make an appointment, but you will usually be seen the same day.

Pharmacists are experts in medicines and managing minor illnesses such as sore throats, sinusitis and earache and they’re commissioned by Government and the NHS to provide this service.

Almost every pharmacy across Derbyshire offers the Pharmacy First service and can provide advice with NHS medicines, if needed, to treat the following seven health conditions quickly and effectively:

• Sinusitis – for children and adults aged 12 years and over
• Sore throat – for children and adults aged 5 years and over
• Earache – for children aged 1 to 17 years
• Infected insect bite – for children and adults aged 1 year and over
• Impetigo – for children and adults aged 1 year and over
• Shingles – for adults aged 18 years and over
• Uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women aged 16 to 64 years.

The consultation will take place in a private room in the pharmacy. The pharmacist will ask you about your specific symptoms, may perform an examination such as looking inside your mouth if you have a sore throat or using an otoscope to look in your child’s ear if they have earache, and will then recommend the best course of action.

If clinically necessary, they may offer an NHS medicine to treat it (NHS prescription charges will apply if you normally pay for medicines supplied on prescription) or advise on over-the-counter treatments to help.

If the pharmacy team is unable to help, the pharmacist will direct you to your GP surgery or another NHS urgent care provider as appropriate.

By thinking ‘Pharmacy First’, you will get the help you need to feel better faster without needing to visit your GP surgery.

Nick Hunter, chief officer of Community Pharmacy Derbyshire said: “There are so many benefits to using your local community pharmacy all year round. Pharmacy First makes it much easier for people to get the expert help they need when they’re feeling under the weather. It’s often far quicker to see a pharmacist rather than waiting to see a GP and many pharmacies are also open late nights and weekends, so it’s much more convenient too.”

Find your nearest pharmacy using the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/pharmacy/find-a-pharmacy/