Acute otitis media mainly affects children and can last for around 1 week, 80% of children recover spontaneously in 2-3 days without any antibiotics.

It occurs when the area behind the eardrum called the middle ear becomes inflamed and infected. The following behaviours in children often mean they have AOM:

• fits of fussiness and intense crying (in infants)
• clutching the ear while wincing in pain (in toddlers)
• complaining about pain in the ear (in older children)

What should you do next:

1. Book an appointment with us to discuss symptoms
2. The pharmacy team will talk about ways we can help alleviate symptoms
3. We can also offer further help and advice!

Pharmacy First Service - suitable for children aged 1 to 17 years

Excludes: recurrent acute otitis media (3 or more episodes in 6 months or four or more episodes in 12 months), pregnant individuals under 16 years

Impetigo is a skin infection that's very contagious but not usually serious. It often gets better in 7 to 10 days if you get treatment. Anyone can get it, but it's very common in young children.

Impetigo starts with red sores or blisters, but the redness may be harder to see in brown and black skin. The sores or blisters quickly burst and leave crusty, golden-brown patches.

Check-in with your pharmacy team to get a diagnosis and treatment without having to wait for a GP appointment.

Pharmacy First Service - suitable for Non-bullous impetigo, for adults and children aged 1 year and over.

Excludes: bullous impetigo, recurrent impetigo (defined as 2 or more episodes in the same year), pregnant individuals under 16 years

Insect bites or stings are not usually serious and get better in a few days. But sometimes they can become infected or cause a serious allergic reaction.

The main symptoms of an insect bite or sting is pain where you were bitten or stung and a small, swollen lump on the skin. The lump may look red. It may be more difficult to see on black or brown skin, but you should be able to feel it.

A member of the pharmacy team can advise you about medicines that can help ease the symptoms of a bite or sting, such as:

• antihistamines
• steroid creams
• painkillers

Pharmacy First Service - suitable for adults and children aged 1 year and over

Excludes: pregnant individuals under 16 years

Shingles is an infection that causes a painful rash. Get advice from 111 as soon as possible if you think you have it.

The first signs of shingles can be:

• a tingling or painful feeling in an area of skin
• a headache or feeling generally unwell

A rash will usually appear a few days later. In rare cases, shingles can cause pain without a rash. Usually, you get the shingles rash on your chest and tummy, but it can appear anywhere on your body including on your face, eyes and genitals. The rash appears as blotches on your skin, on 1 side of your body only. A rash on both the left and right of your body is unlikely to be shingles.

Call today to speak to a pharmacist - skip the GP!

Pharmacy First Service suitable for patients aged 18yrs and older.

Excludes pregnant individuals.

Sore throats are very common and usually nothing to worry about. But if the following systems persist for 3 days, please do seek advice: 

• High temperature
• Inflamed tonsils 
• Purulent tonsils 
• No Cough 

What should you do next:

1. Book an appointment with us to discuss symptoms
2. The pharmacy team will talk about ways to help alleviate symptoms
3. We can also offer further help and advice!

Pharmacy First Service - suitable for adults and children aged 5 years and over

Excludes: pregnant individuals under 16 years

​​UTIs affect your urinary tract, including your bladder, urethra or kidneys. Symptoms include:

• Increased frequency of urination
• Cloudy urine
• New muscle pain
• Pain with urination

What should you do next:

1. Book an appointment with us to discuss symptoms
2. If they qualify we will prescribe antibiotics that you can collect from us 
3. We can also offer further help and advice!

Pharmacy First Service - suitable for women aged 16 to 64 years with suspected lower UTIs

Excludes: pregnant individuals, diabetics, urinary catheter, recurrent UTI (2 episodes in last 6 months, or 3 episodes in last 12 months)