Minor Ailments

Community Pharmacy Consultation Service

At Alnwick Medical Group we have signed up to an NHS wide initiative working in partnership with our local community pharmacies called the Community Pharmacy Consultation Service, when a patient contacts us for one of the minor ailments listed below we will ask your local pharmacy to hold that consultation with you.

We will send you a message to let you know we have referred you and then the local pharmacy will call you within 4 working hours of us sending your consultation referral to them. The message we send you will have within it the contact details for the pharmacy we have referred you to so you can contact them after 4 hours if needed.

Acne, Spots and Pimples	Cough	Knee or Lower Leg Pain or Swelling	Sore Throat and Hoarse Voice
Allergic Reaction	Diarrhoea	Lower Back Pain	Tiredness (Fatigue)
Ankle or Foot Pain or Swelling	Earache, Ear Discharge or Ear Wax	Lower Limb Pain or Swelling	Toe Pain or Swelling
Arm Pain or Swelling	Eye, Red or Irritable	Mouth Ulcers	Vaginal Discharge
Athlete’s Foot	Eye, Sticky or Watery	Rectal Pain, Swelling, Lump or Itch	Vaginal Itch or Soreness
Bites or Stings, Insect or Spider	Hair Loss	Shoulder Pain	Vomiting
Blisters	Headache	Skin, Rash	Wound Problems – management of dressings
Cold or Flu	Hip, Thigh or Buttock Pain or Swelling	Sleep Difficulties	Wrist, Hand or Finger Pain/Swelling
Constipation

If the Pharmacist thinks there is a need to refer you back to our clinical team they will do so on your behalf and ask us to make an appointment for one of our clinicians to contact you before the end of the next working day. The pharmacist will tell you if they are referring you back to us so please don’t call the practice to enquire as we will be in touch with you.

Our eConsult online support can help you identify if you could get the help you need from the pharmacy, you can request a consultation with them directly by contacting or attending the pharmacy. This may will be quicker for you than contacting the surgery about your minor ailment and being referred as the list above shows there are many things you can get help for without an appointment with one of our Clinicians or a Prescription, please visit the site HERE, choose your condition and then on the next page select the box that says ‘I want pharmacy advice’

Many treatments are available over-the-counter without the need for a prescription and there are now a list of medicines that The NHS will not prescribe unless for specific reasons e.g.:

• Antihistamine
• Paracetamol
• Aspirin

Self help for minor ailments

There are many good sources of advice available to you without needing to consult with one of our clinicians.
We recommend:

• Our eConsult online support can help you identify if you could get the help you need online without the need for an Appointment, please visit the site HERE, choose your condition and then on the next page select the box that says ‘I want to help myself’
• https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ website is an excellent library of conditions, symptoms and their treatment.
• https://patient.info/ provides guidance on conditions, symptoms, medicines and healthy living.