Pharmacies across North West London can now provide treatment for common health conditions, with no GP appointment or prescription needed.
Highly trained pharmacists can assess and treat patients for seven common health conditions: sinusitis; sore throat; earache; infected insect bite; impetigo; shingles; and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women, without the need for a GP appointment or prescription.
This major expansion of pharmacy services gives residents more choice when it comes to where and how they access care, while also freeing up millions of GP appointments each year. In NW London 95% of pharmacies will offer these additional services.
Community pharmacies already play a vital role in keeping local communities healthy, helping with minor health concerns such as coughs, colds and infections, offering blood pressure checks, providing support with medication management and administering certain vaccinations.
Seema Buckley, Chief Pharmacist and Director of Medicines Optimisation and Pharmacy at NHS NW London said:
“Expanding these services provided by the high street pharmacy is a vital step in making health services more accessible for our communities, giving people more choice of when and where they get the help they need. Community pharmacists play a major role in frontline healthcare, and this expansion will alleviate the pressure at your doctor’s surgery and reduce waiting times for patients.”
The expansion of services available via pharmacies is part of the NHS’ primary care access recovery plan, which is committed to making it quicker and easier for millions of people to access healthcare on their high street.
You can find your local pharmacy using Find a pharmacy - NHS (www.nhs.uk)