Category: NHS Services

The minor ailment scheme is an NHS service that allows the pharmacy to supply advice and medication where appropriate by the pharmacy for a group of minor conditions.

The service is free of charge for eligible patients. The pharmacy team will ask you a few questions to establish if you qualify for this service.

The aim of the service is to provide treatments for minor conditions without the need to see your GP or A&E. You don’t require an appointment for this service. You are required to be registered with a local GP in the same area as the pharmacy. If you are using this service for the first time, we will need to register you which can take 10-15 minutes. The pharmacist will ask a have a short consultation with you to establish the best course of treatment for you and to give you advice. In more serious cases, the pharmacist might refer you to the GP or the A&E as appropriate.

Local GP surgeries or NHS 111 might also refer you to the pharmacy for this service. This service aims to increase utilisation of community pharmacist skills by providing self care through the pharmacy. It also increases patient choice, convenience and access to treatment for minor ailments that do not require consultation with a doctor.

If you or someone you look after requires this service, please inquire at the pharmacy for the minor ailment scheme.

If you are prescribed a medicine to treat a long-term condition for the first time, you may be able to get extra help and advice about your medicine from your local pharmacist through a new free scheme called the New Medicine Service (NMS).
People often have problems when they start a new medicine. In this scheme the pharmacist will support you over several weeks to use the medicine safely and to best effect.

The service is only available to people using certain medicines. In some cases where there is a problem apparent and a solution cannot be found between you and the pharmacist, you will be referred back to your doctor.

How will I know if I’m eligible?

The service is only available for people living in England and only for those who have been prescribed a new medicine for the conditions listed:

• Asthma
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Type 2 Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure, or
• have been given a new blood-thinning medicine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=tutnjvTa9jU

How do I join the scheme?

When you take your new prescription to your local pharmacy, ask the pharmacist if you can take part in the service.

How does the new service work?

Start your medicine

You can talk to the pharmacist when you first start your medicine and ask any questions you may have about it. For example, you might want to know about side effects, or how you can fit your treatment around your lifestyle.

Your second appointment

You will have a follow-up appointment two weeks later, when you and your pharmacist can talk about any issues you might have experienced with the medicine. For example, if you are not taking it regularly, or are finding a tablet hard to swallow, your pharmacist can help you get back on track.

Your third appointment

You will have your last appointment a fortnight later when you can catch up with your pharmacist on how you are getting on with your medicine. The service then ends, but your pharmacist will always talk to you about your medicines when you need help.

Do I have to talk about my medicines over the counter in the pharmacy?

Any pharmacist providing the New Medicine Service must have a private consultation area. This is a separate room where you can’t be overheard and around 85% of pharmacies have one.

All the discussions with your pharmacist can take place in person or by phone.

How long will each appointment take?

The appointments are designed to fit around you, but a typical consultation will take around 10 to 15 minutes.

Do I have to pay?

No. This service is free through the NHS.

If you have out of date or unwanted medicines, both prescription or over the counter drugs, don’t bin them or flush them.

You can take your unwanted or out of date medicines back to your pharmacy for safe disposal, and it’s completely FREE.

Each year enormous quantities of unused and expired medications are dumped into bins or flushed down toilets and sinks. The effects on the environment and human health are unclear but evidence is pointing to the presence of chemicals from prescriptions and over-the-counter medications in soil, drinking water and the surrounding environment. Just as proper medication administration is important, so is safe and cautious disposal.

Unused prescription medicines cost the NHS across the UK over £300 million every year.

Based on average costs, £300 million could pay for:

• 80,906 MORE hip replacements
• 101,351 MORE knee replacements
• 19,799 MORE drug treatment courses for breast cancer
• 11,778 MORE community nurses
• 300,000 MORE drug treatment courses for Alzheimer’s

You can help by only ordering the medicines that you need:

• Please let your GP or Pharmacist know if you’ve stopped taking any of your medicines
• Check what medicines you still have at home before re-ordering
• Discuss your medication with your GP or Pharmacist on a regular basis
• Think carefully before ticking all the boxes on your repeat prescription forms and only tick those you really need
• If you don’t need the medicine please don’t order it! If you need the medicine in the future you can still request it.
• If you need to go into hospital, please remember to take all your medicines with you in a clearly marked bag.
• Please also remember that your medicines are prescribed only for you; it’s not safe to share them with anyone else.

Remember that unused medicines cannot be recycled

• Even if you never open them, once medicines have left the Pharmacy, they cannot be recycled or used by anyone else.
• Please bring your unused medicines to the Pharmacy for safe disposal.
• NEVER dispose of your unused or unwanted medicines down the toilet

Unused medicines are a safety risk

• Return out of date medicines to your pharmacy or dispensary for safe disposal
• If your medicines change – return your old medicines to the pharmacy for safe disposal to avoid mixing them up with your new medicines
• Don’t stockpile medication – it is a safety risk for children and others who might take them
• Store medicines in an appropriate place out of reach of children

For more information on Medicines Waste please visit http://www.medicinewaste.com/

The community dosage system is a service for those patients who take a large number of medications or who can’t remember to take their medications on time due to their conditions or circumstance. The pharmacy will put your medication in a weekly pack which is easy to follow, allowing better compliance and safe administration of medicines.

This service is being used by many of the elderly population to help manage complex medicine regimes. This is an important tool that enhances medicine adherence and helps patients manage their medicine effectively. As a Pharmacy team, we understand how important it is to take medicine on time and not miss any doses which is why we can help organise weekly pill trays for those who require them and deliver them to the patients on a weekly basis. This will help prevent medicine wastage and overdosage in some patients.

The pharmacy will assess your eligibility for this service with you or your carer and the prescriber in some cases. Please speak to a member of staff about if you are interested in this service.

Meet with our pharmacist to talk about:

• The medicines you are taking
• What they do
• How well they work for you
• How to get the most out of them

What is a Medicines Use Review (MUR)

A medicines use review is an appointment with one of our pharmacists to focus on how you are getting on with your medicines. It is an NHS service and you don’t need to pay for it.

The meeting is to:

• Help you find out more about the medicines you are taking
• Pick up any problems you are having with your medicines
• Improve the effectiveness of your medicines. There may be easier ways to take them, or you may find you need fewer medicines than before.
• Get better value for the NHS- making sure that your medicines are right for you prevents unnecessary waste.

Our pharmacist will have questions to ask you, and may suggest changes to your medicines. You may have concerns or questions that you want to ask. You can ask anything at all about your medicines.

Remember you can ask our pharmacist questions at any time, but a review will give you and us both more time to concentrate on you and your medicines.

How you may be offered a review: 

Our pharmacist might invite you for a review either in person or in a letter through the post.

You can also ask our pharmacist for a review. You must have been getting your prescriptions from us for three months or more.

Is a medicines use review for you?

You can ask for a medicines use review if:

• You are regularly taking more than one prescription medicine
• You are taking medicines for a long term illness (like asthma, arthritis, diabetes or epilepsy)

Our pharmacist will be happy to arrange a review meeting, and may even suggest it. Your doctor or nurse might also suggest that a review would be helpful.

Even if you are not in either of these groups, you can ask our pharmacist for advice at any time.

If there is an urgent problem with medicines, don’t wait for a medicines use review. If you or somebody else, notice one of the things on this list, don’t delay:

•  If you have taken too much of any medicine
•  If you have an allergic reaction to a new medicine (such as wheezing, rash, swelling or fainting)
•  If you notice a serious side effect or any unusual symptoms
•  If you notice your health getting worseIn any of these cases, talk to a doctor or pharmacist straight away.

What you can expect in the review meeting

Our pharmacists have undergone special training and have been assessed to make sure they have the right knowledge and skills to provide this service.

The meeting is confidential.

•  We have private consultation rooms in our pharmacies where you sit down together with the pharmacist and can’t be overheard by customers or staff.
•  Your details and your discussion will be kept private. You can talk openly and your questions or worries will be listened to. Only you and your GP will normally receive a record of the meeting.

Our pharmacist will listen and help.

•  We will be ready to hear your concerns and your questions. You can be open with us and say whatever you want in these meetings.
• Our pharmacists will only know about medicines that you have received from our pharmacy. We will not have a record of prescriptions you may have picked up from another pharmacy. We will not have your medical history or details about your illness. So it’s important to tell us as much as you can.

What happens afterwards?

• Everything may be okay with your medicines and nothing else will need to happen.
• You will be given an Action Plan which will include any changes you have agreed in the way you take your medicines. This will be filled in by our pharmacist during the review.
• A copy of the Action Plan will go to your doctor and be kept with your medical notes.
• Our pharmacist may recommend a change to your prescription. You will have a note of this in the Action Plan. Both you and your doctor will need to agree on any changes to your prescription, so you may be asked to make an appointment with your doctor to discuss these. No changes will be made against your will.

Questions you may want to ask

These are just suggestions. You can ask us any questions you like about your medicines.

• What does this medicine do?
• Why is it important that I take this medicine?
• Are there any other treatment options?
• When and how should I take it?
• How long should I take it for?
• What other medicines, drinks, foods or activities should I be aware of when I am taking this medicine?
• What should I do if I don’t feel well while taking it?
• How do I know it’s helping?
• How can I be sure it’s safe for me to take?
• What are the possible risks and side effects?
• What should I do if I get one of these effects?
• Could another medicine do a better job, with less risk?
• What if I stopped taking it, or took a lower dose?
• Will the medicine build up in my body?
• Do I really need to take these medicines?
• Is there anything that can help to remind me to take my medicines?
• Can I have containers that are easier to open?
• Could you provide the patient information leaflet in larger print?
• Where can I go for more information?

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any more information on the Medicines Use Review service, or please see our health advice page for further information.