We are working with neighbouring General Practice services to see if they can support people in a better way. Your GP can refer you to us and we will follow clinical guidelines to work out if we can help give you advice and explain what can be done to help you. This helps your GP practice to concentrate on more complex conditions and also gives us some much-loved opportunity to speak to and help people.
Pharmacists have training and lots of expertise on medications and how they can help with minor illnesses. We will do our best to help and advise you, however, if we can’t we will liaise back with your GP service to get their help and support.
We would love your feedback as this will help us to understand how helpful you find this service. Since we began we have helped hundreds of patients!
Community Pharmacy Consultation scheme from NHS 111 and NHS 111 Emergency medication service
In addition to being referred by your GP Practice, you may be referred to us by the NHS 111 services for minor illness ans also if you run out of your regular medication, for provision of emergency supplies while you are waiting for your GP to supply you with more medication
Please see below for some frequently asked questions about this new service.
What is this new service about?
When you call the practice, you will be asked about your symptoms. If they indicate that you can best be helped by a pharmacist, you will be offered a same day private consultation with a local community pharmacist. By prior arrangement, if your symptoms are such that you need to be seen by a member of your staff at the GP Practice, we will be able to book you an appointment directly with them.
Community pharmacists have already successfully seen thousands of patients for a consultation for a minor illness, following a call to NHS 111. This new way of arranging consultations with the pharmacist by a GP practice, has been successfully piloted around the county.
Why are you doing this?
Pharmacists are qualified healthcare professionals and experts in medicines. They can offer clinical advice and over-the-counter medicines for all sorts of minor illnesses, and a same day consultation can be arranged quickly and at a time to suit you.
This in turns frees up GP appointments for those people with more complex symptoms who really need to see a GP.
What happens when I am contacted by the community pharmacist?
We will share your personal details with the pharmacist and details of your minor illness and the pharmacist will contact you to arrange your consultation on the same day, or at a time that suits you.
You will have telephone consultation first and if needed, may be seen in person in a private consulting room if the pharmacist thinks it appropriate. You will be asked about your medical history and symptoms and current medication, in the same way the GP would ask you about them.
Usually, the pharmacist will provide you with advice and can recommend an over the counter product where needed, if you choose. They will also send details of your consultation back to the GP for their records.
If the pharmacist feels you need to be seen by a GP urgently, they will call the GP Practice to ensure you are seen, or they will advise you to contact the hospital Emergency Department if deemed necessary.
What if I get free prescriptions from my GP?
Your pharmacist will provide you with advice on how to treat your symptoms, which may include a medicine or product. Medicines that can be purchased in a pharmacy to treat minor illnesses, are usually not expensive and would not normally be prescribed by your GP anyway. You are free to choose if you wish to make a purchase or not.
What happens if I don’t want to see the pharmacist?
We want to ensure that you are offered an appointment with the most appropriate qualified health care professional based on your symptoms. If you have minor illness symptoms that can be treated the same day through a consultation with a qualified community pharmacist, but do not want to accept this referral, you will be offered a routine appointment with your General Practice clinicians at a future date for minor illnesses this may be a member of their nursing team.
What if the patient is my child?
Children aged over one years are eligible to use this service and can be seen by the pharmacist. Children who are able to make their own decision about their health may be seen unaccompanied but this will be assessed by the pharmacist.
Why is this a good thing for patients and pharmacists?
Community pharmacies are local, often open longer hours than the GP practices and can offer you the same support at a time that can be more convenient for you. If the pharmacist thinks you need to see someone from the GP team, they can help arrange an urgent appointment for you.
Patients who have already used the service liked the convenience of having a consultation on the same day, or a day that suited them, at a pharmacy of their choice. Across the country about 78% of people who had a consultation with a community pharmacist were successfully helped and very positive about the experience. This also helps our team of pharmacists develop with many of them explaining that they thoroughly enjoy having this as part of their job.