Pharmacy out of hours service

Your local pharmacy plays a key role in providing quality healthcare to patients.  The pharmacists working there use their clinical expertise together with their practical knowledge to ensure that there is a safe supply and use of medicines by patients and members of the public.  As well as dispensing prescriptions your local pharmacy offers expert advice and also information on many common ailments such as coughs and colds, hay-fever, stomach upsets, minor eye infections and many more.  They can also offer you general information on healthcare.

Children aged between 0-16 years can go to a pharmacy accompanied by their parent or guardian for advice and treatment if necessary. This can be done without the need for a prescription or a visit to your local GP.  Under the Minor Ailment Service a pharmacist can help children with the following conditions:

•             Head Lice

•             Earache

•             Eczema and Allergies

•             Hay fever

•             Sore Throat

•             Threadworms

•             Warts and Verrucas

The Minor Ailment Service allows for individuals to be registered with their local pharmacy and use it as their first port of call for advice and free treatment for a range of conditions.  In many cases you will not have to make an appointment and can visit at a time that suits you.  You can use the Minor Ailment Service if you are registered with a GP surgery in Scotland, and you are under 16 or under 19 and in full-time education; you are 60 or over; You have a valid maternity exemption certificate, medical exemption certificate, or war pension exemption certificate; you get Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, or Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, or you are named on, or entitled to, an NHS tax credit exemption certificate or a valid HC2 certificate.  Visit your local pharmacy to find out more about this service.

Your local pharmacy may also provide and out of hours service.  They have extended opening hours, rota services and on-call services.  If you are looking for a chemist open on Sundays you are now able to do this due to the out of hours service.  Each area of the country has a rota of duty chemists who open the pharmacy out of normal opening hours to allow prescription medicine to be dispensed.  They also dispense over the counter remedies like cold and flu medicines.  There are an increasing number of 24 hour and midnight pharmacies offering this service as well as chemists opening on Sundays.  If you are searching for a chemist open on Sunday then visit www.lawtonpharmacy.com This site provides a list of chemist locations and their opening hours.