If you have a minor illness, a pharmacy is the first place you should go for advice
Everyone who is registered with a GP practice in Scotland, or who lives in Scotland, is encouraged to use their local pharmacy when they have a minor illness or common condition.
Accident and Emergency Departments remain open for emergency care, with public health measures in place to protect staff and patients. Your local pharmacist or a trained member of the pharmacy team will give you advice and provide medicine if needed.
Conditions you can get help for
Your pharmacist can advise you about conditions such as:
- Acne
- Allergies
- Athlete’s foot
- Backache
- Blocked or runny nose
- Cold sores
- Constipation
- Cough
- Cystitis (in women)
- Diarrhoea
- Earache
- Eczema
- Headache
- Headlice
- Haemorrhoids (piles)
- Hay fever
- Impetigo
- Indigestion
- Mouth ulcers
- Pain
- Period pain
- Shingles
- Some skin conditions such as cellulitis or insect bites
- Sore throat
- Threadworms
- Thrush
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs) – UTI (16 to 65 year old women) with no back pain or blood in their urine/not an ongoing uti or been issued a prescriptions in last couple of months by the chemist for a recent uti (no men or pregnant women)
- Verrucas
- Warts
Pharmacists, like GPs, can only provide certain medicines and products on the NHS. All of these are proven to be effective in treating your condition.
If you want a specific medicine or product, you may need to buy it. The pharmacist will give you advice on this.
Some pharmacists have an additional prescribing qualification which allows them to prescribe a wider range of medicines, normally only available from your GP practice.
If the pharmacist, or a member of their team, thinks it is better for you to see your GP or another healthcare professional, they may refer you directly or tell you to make an appointment.