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The NHS Minor Ailment Service

• If you don’t pay for your prescriptions, this leaflet is for you.

• Everyone can go to their pharmacist for advice or to buy a medicine for a minor illness or complaint.
• But this is an NHS service for people, including children, who don’t pay prescription charges.
• It means that if your pharmacist thinks you need it, they can give you a medicine for a minor illness or complaint without you having to pay for it.
• It will save you making an appointment with your GP simply to get a prescription for a minor complaint.

• you are registered with a GP surgery in Scotland,
• you don’t pay for your prescriptions, and
• you don’t live in a nursing or residential care home.

• The NHS Minor Ailment Service is available from all community pharmacies in Scotland.
• You register for the service with the community pharmacy of your choice.
• You don’t have to make an appointment. You can go along at a time that suits you.
• Your consultation will always be with a pharmacist.
• Your pharmacist will offer you advice. If you need a medicine or a product to treat your symptoms, you will be given this free of charge.

• your pharmacist suggests you should, or
• you need a medicine that you can only get with a
• prescription from your GP.

• You can register for the NHS Minor Ailment Service at a community pharmacy of your choice. You can do this at any time.
• Your pharmacist will ask you for some details - your name, date of birth, and postcode. He or she will also check whether you pay for your prescriptions.
• Your pharmacist completes a form which you must sign to register for the service.
• You will be asked to mark the reason why you don’t pay for your prescriptions on the form. Your pharmacist may ask you for proof, for example, your maternity or medical exemption certificate. Try to remember to bring this information with you.
• Your pharmacist will complete a separate form for each member of your family, including children.
• You can only register with one community pharmacy at a time for the NHS Minor Ailment Service.
• If you want to go to another community pharmacy for the NHS Minor Ailment Service, you can. But you will need to register with the new pharmacy.
• If you do register with a new community pharmacy, you will no longer be registered at the pharmacy where you were registered before.

You will be able to get advice and free treatment (if you need it) from your community pharmacist for minor illnesses and complaints such as:

• acne
• athlete''s foot
• backache
• cold sores
• constipation
• cough
• diarrhoea
• earache
• eczema and allergies
• haemorrhoids (piles)
• hay fever
• headache
• head lice
• indigestion
• mouth ulcers
• nasal congestion
• pain
• period pain
• thrush
• sore throat
• threadworms
• warts and verrucae
   

Your pharmacist, like your doctor, can only give out certain medicines and products free of charge. You may not get the medicine or product that you would normally buy.

If your pharmacist feels that it is better for you to see your GP, they may refer you directly or ask you to make an appointment with your GP.

• Yes. You can still make an appointment with your GP if you prefer.

• Yes. You can still use other pharmacies to buy medicines or to pick up your prescriptions.
• But remember, you can only use the NHS Minor Ailment Service at the community pharmacy you’ve registered with.

• If you are not happy with the service you are given, speak to your community pharmacist.
• If you are still not happy after you’ve done this, you can make a complaint. The leaflet Making a complaint about the NHS explains how to do this. You can get the leaflet from most NHS services, or at www.hris.org.uk.

How to find out more
For more information about anything in this leaflet, contact:

• your local community pharmacy
• your GP or another member of NHS staff involved in your care
• the NHS Helpline on 0800 22 44 88 (calls are free), or
• your local citizens advice bureau (find your nearest bureau on the internet at www.cas.org.uk or in your local phone book). Telephone 0131 244 2631