Pharmacies are medical professionals who can help you with minor health concerns. However people don’t always know what pharmacies can and can’t prescribe for you.
In this blog you will discover what pharmacies can prescribe for you and the services they can offer for health concerns.
As qualified healthcare professionals, they can offer clinical advice and over-the-counter medicines for a range of minor illnesses, such as coughs, colds, sore throats, tummy trouble and aches and pains.
If symptoms suggest it’s something more serious, pharmacists have the right training to make sure you get the help you need. For instance, they will tell you if you need to see a GP, nurse or other healthcare professional.
All pharmacies provide the following services:
- Dispensing of NHS prescriptions
- Access to the repeat prescription service (with agreement from your GP)
- An emergency supply of medicine, subject to the decision of the pharmacist (you may need to pay for an emergency supply)
- Non-prescription paracetamol
- Disposal of unwanted or out-of-date medicines
- Advice of treating minor health concerns and healthy living
Pharmacy technicians can help with things like:
- Inhaler technique
- How to take a medicine safely
- Helping you understand the correct dose of a new medicine and how often you need to take it.
Your pharmacy can also make getting repeat prescriptions quicker for you. If you take medication on a regular basis and your condition is stable, your GP may be able to offer a long-term repeat prescriptions. Therefore you will receive your medicine at regular intervals. In the event that you experience problems with your medicine, you can inform your pharmacist and they can consult your GP.
A pharmacy can also help with emergency contraception. You can purchase a variety of contraceptive from your pharmacists after a consultation. Some pharmacists also offer a service that allows them to supply emergency contraception on the NHS to women aged 16 to 24.
Overall, there is a lot pharmacists can help you with that can be very beneficial. Another thing that is beneficial to people is a healthy lifestyle. Pharmacies have trained professionals to offer lifestyle advice spanning nutrition, weight loss, keeping active and drinking less alcohol. Some pharmacies also offer health checks to measure your blood pressure and access your diabetes risk.
At Manchester pharmacy we offer a variety of services and advice for everyone who needs it. For more information about our pharmacy get in touch with us today.
