Think Pharmacy First

Advice and treatment

Pharmacists can give you advice on a range of conditions and suggest medicines that can help.

They may also be able to offer treatment and some prescription medicine for some conditions, without you needing to see a GP (this is called Pharmacy First).

Conditions they can treat as part of Pharmacy First are:

earache (aged 1 to 17 years)
impetigo (aged 1 year and over)- a contagious skin infection
infected insect bites (aged 1 year and over)
shingles (aged 18 years and over)- infection that causes a painful rash
sinusitis (aged 12 years and over)- infection of the sinuses (behind the forehead, cheeks and nose
sore throat (aged 5 years and over)
urinary tract infections or UTIs (women aged 16 to 64 years)

If you have one of these conditions you can fill in an assessment and self refer online here or you can walk into your local pharmacy.

The pharmacist will offer you advice, treatment or refer you to a GP or another healthcare professional if needed.

Pharmacies will update your GP health record.

If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice, but you may need to see a GP for treatment.

Please note on weekends online self-referral may take longer as the practice is closed and will not look at your assessment till we are open, for quicker response please walk into your local pharmacy.

Find a Pharmacy: https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/pharmacy/find-a-pharmacy

Getting the contraceptive pill without a prescription

You may be able to get the contraceptive pill from a pharmacy if you need to:

start the contraceptive pill for the first time
take the contraceptive pill again after a break from using it

If you already have a prescription for the contraceptive pill, you can use the prescription as usual. Or you can get the pill from a pharmacy without a prescription if you prefer.

Find a pharmacy that offers the contraceptive pill without a prescription