Your local pharmacy can help you quickly with minor illnesses
A new national campaign – Help Us, Help You – Get it seen – has been launched today (20/1) to remind people that community pharmacists are qualified healthcare professionals who can treat minor illnesses quickly and conveniently.
The campaign, by NHS England and NHS Improvement, lets people know that pharmacies can offer clinical advice and over-the-counter medicines to effectively and safely manage a range of minor symptoms such as coughs, colds, sore throats, earaches, itchy eyes, tummy troubles, aches and pains and many more.
Pharmacy teams do not require an appointment and offer use of a confidential consultation room should it be required. If symptoms suggest it’s something more serious, pharmacists have the right clinical training to ensure people get the help they need immediately and can refer patients to a GP or A&E where necessary.
Every pharmacist trains for five years in the use of medicines before they qualify, and they are also trained in managing minor illnesses and providing health and wellbeing advice.
By following the expert advice of community pharmacists, you can help the NHS help you stay well, prevent an illness getting worse, take the best course of action, and get well again sooner.
Most people live within easy reach of a pharmacy; nine out of 10 people live less than a 20-minute walk away from their local pharmacy and many offer extended opening hours in the evenings and at the weekends.
The message from Milton Keynes University Hospital is, if your symptoms are minor: ‘Help us, Help You – Get it seen’ to at a local pharmacy first.
For more information, visit https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/pharmacies/what-to-expect-from-your-pharmacy-team/
Last Modified: 3:00pm 20/01/2020
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