1 Prescribe medication
Some pharmacists, mainly those in hospitals or GP practices, can already prescribe medicines (they’re known as pharmacist independent prescribers, or PIPs). But now, community pharmacists in England that offer the Pharmacy First Service can help with medication, which may include antibiotics, if you have one of seven common ailments: a sore throat, earache, sinusitis, shingles, impetigo, infected insect bites, and uncomplicated UTIs in women. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have similar schemes.
2 Save you money
‘One of the core professional values of being a pharmacist is making healthcare accessible,’ says Ade Williams, superintendent pharmacist at Bedminster Pharmacy in Bristol. ‘We can advise on cheaper, appropriate over-the-counter (OTC) alternatives to branded medicines. We can explain the difference between the two (sometimes a branded version might have something…