Advice and help at your local pharmacy
We all know that you can pick up a prescription or buy a cough bottle at a pharmacy, but did you know even if you do not need a medicine that pharmacies can still improve your health and wellbeing? Your local pharmacy can help keep you healthy now and into the future.
Most Pharmacies already offer a stop smoking service. You can get help to lose weight and health checks in many pharmacies. The pharmacist can also provide treatment for minor ailments such as diarrhoea, head lice or athletes foot without seeing a doctor for a prescription. And of course they can provide expert advice on medicines.
What is a Health+ Pharmacy?
The Health+Pharmacy scheme recognises the important role your local pharmacy has to play in keeping you, your family and your community healthy and well.
A Health+Pharmacy will be a place where you will receive consistently high quality advice and service from informative staff about your personal health needs. The central focus of the initiative is to engage with you to improve your health and wellbeing. The staff, including non-pharmacists, are trained as active health promoters within your pharmacy and beyond. The pharmacy will be both a provider of, and sign-poster to, quality services of health promotion, prevention and protection. The pharmacy premises will reflect this and all pharmacies must meet the PSNI standards and additionally, must have a private consultation area and a publicly accessible area which is suitable to be developed for advising patients and providing public health information (a Health Zone).
Many community pharmacies in Northern Ireland are aiming to become a Health+Pharmacy, so soon you won't need to travel far from your home, workplace or favourite shopping street to find one.
The Living Well Service
In addition to the usual things you expect to see in a pharmacy, like the medicines counter and a place to get your prescriptions, there will also be an area to pick up information and leaflets (Health Zone), and a place where you can talk to the pharmacist in privacy. The products sold will promote you and your family's health and wellbeing. The staff will be able to advise you about health services available in the local area and those offered within the pharmacy.
Living Well is a Health & Social Care Health Improvement initiative which focusses on a theme every two months e.g. Breastfeeding Awareness, Know Check Ask (re medication), and Vaccine Awareness.
How will the staff help me?
Every Health+Pharmacy will have specially trained health and wellbeing advisers. Together with the pharmacist and the other staff they will help you on the road to meeting your health goals. They will offer you information and advice on the Living Well theme, or offer tailored help in the pharmacy such as a stop smoking programme. Or they might point you in the direction of other people in your local area who can support your needs, such as clinics or self-help groups.
You might also see the pharmacy staff out and about more, working in local community groups or at the local school. They are there to spread the Health+Pharmacy message using their expert knowledge and skills. If you are a member of a local group, feel free to approach your pharmacist to see if they can do something for your group.
Pharmacies may open longer than many other health services, from early mornings to late nights. You don't need an appointment for advice or for most services, but you can make one if you want to and you can always phone if need be.
Advice from a Health+Pharmacy is free and you do not have to buy anything or take up any services if you do not want to. HSC services such as Stop Smoking programmes are free to patients who qualify.