With winter looming, Cheshire health leaders have urged people to Think Pharmacy if they fall ill with a wide range of common ailments.
The plea was made this week by NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) which stressed that pharmacists are highly-qualified healthcare professionals who can offer expert advice on a wide range of illnesses, giving the area's 23 GP practices more time to see patients.
As well as making up prescriptions written by GPs, pharmacists can give advice on the over-the-counter medicines they sell, review medicines in private, dispose safely of old or unwanted medication and signpost people to services to help them lose weight, stop smoking or cut down on alcohol.
Pharmacists can also provide the morning-after pill, supervise methadone consumption and provide free treatment for some minor conditions for no more than the standard prescription charge of £8.05. People exempted from prescription charges would not have to pay.
Additionally pharmacies can now offer the NHS-funded flu jabs, that were previously only available from GP practices.
Pharmacist Andrew Hodgson said "Pharmacists train for five years and can offer expert advice on many of the illnesses that GPs can help with. They can advise patients on the benefits and possible side effects of medicines prescribed by the doctor and can guide people on which over-the-counter medication to buy. That's why I'm backing the CCG's Think Pharmacy campaign."
Dr Graham Duce, the CCG's medicine management lead, added: "As the weather worsens and the pressure grows on GP practices, I'm hoping that people will Think Pharmacy and also bear in mind the many other health services that can help. For example, the NHS Choices website at www.nhs.uk offers great advice on a huge range of ailments and illnesses while the NHS 111 service is there to give advice on non-emergency conditions during the day and when the doctor's surgery is closed.
"We also have an out-of-hours GP service which operates from 6.30pm to 8am weekdays and all day at the weekends and on bank holidays. It is based in Macclesfield District General Hospital and can be contacted on 01625 502999.
"In addition, Congleton War Memorial Hospital operates the area's minor injury unit for the treatment of cuts, grazes, sprains and many other problems."
For lots of advice on choosing the right service at the right time, visit www.easterncheshireccg.nhs.uk.
Meanwhile, the CCG is working with the area's GPs and pharmacies to extend the range of common conditions on which pharmacists can offer advice and treatment without the need for a prescription.
