It’s National Ask Your Pharmacist Week (1-8 November) and health professionals in Sefton are sharing five top tips for healthcare help that you can get directly from your local pharmacy:

1. Advice and treatment for minor illnesses such as coughs, colds and earache
2. Advice on staying well and preventing disease
3. Support to maintain good sexual health
4. Help to quit smoking
5. Personalised support to get the most from your medicines

Susanne Lynch MBE, head of medicines management at NHS South Sefton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS Southport and Formby CCG, said: “As well as providing easily accessible over the counter advice, you may be referred for a consultation with a community pharmacist by NHS 111, your GP or another healthcare professional.

“Anyone can access expert advice and buy t a range of medicines for minor illnesses from a local pharmacist, without needing a prescription from their GP. Care at the chemist is a local scheme for patients registered with a GP in Sefton, which enables the pharmacist to provide the recommended minor illness medicine for a number of conditions free of charge to patients who do not pay prescription charges. Details of the pharmacies offering care at the chemist are available here.

The theme of this year’s campaign is ‘your local pharmacy can help’, raising awareness of the variety of health problems to which community pharmacy has solutions.

Lisa Manning, chief executive of the local pharmaceutical committee in Sefton, said: “Community pharmacies are part of the NHS family and they provide a range of clinical services. Pharmacy teams are expert healthcare professional who work with other professionals, such as doctors and nurses, to give you the best possible care as part of the local healthcare team.’

“Through the pandemic, people have become much more familiar with their community pharmacy and are much more aware of what support their local pharmacy can offer them. As a result of the pandemic more and more patients are regarding community pharmacy as the first place to seek help. Community pharmacies provide free, accessible healthcare support, advice and treatment. I’m extremely proud of the way in which our local pharmacies have stepped up to the challenge of delivering record numbers of flu jabs this year. If you would like a flu vaccination, contact your local pharmacy now and if you’ve yet to have your COVID-19 jabs, it’s never too late.”

For NHS services, convenient access to medicines, support for healthy living and prompt clinical advice, Ask Your Pharmacist.

To find a pharmacy near you, search using your town, city or postcode on the NHS website: www.nhs.uk/service-search/pharmacy/find-a-pharmacy

To find out more about pharmacy services visit the NHS website: www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions-and-pharmacies/pharmacies

Book an appointment at one of the Sefton pharmacy-led vaccination sites or at one of the 1,600 vaccination centres across the country via the national booking service online: nhs.uk/covid-vaccination or by calling 119.