Five simple steps everyone can take to get the right support from their community pharmacy

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Wales today (Thursday 19th March) set out five simple steps everyone can take to get the right support from their community pharmacy during the coronavirus outbreak.

• Follow Welsh Government advice and do not visit a pharmacy if you or anyone in your household has a temperature or a new and continuous cough, even if it’s mild.

• Plan ahead where possible. Pharmacies are working hard to provide prescriptions, but try to order your next prescription seven days before it is due. This will help the pharmacist deal with urgent requests and queries

• Put your contact details on your prescription so pharmacies can let you know when your medicines are ready to collect. This will reduce the amount of time you need to be in the pharmacy. When you provide your contact details please wait for the pharmacy to contact you and try not to ring the pharmacy unless it’s urgent.

• If you are self-isolating please ask family, friends or neighbours to arrange to pick up your medication for you, and if you don’t have anyone who can collect your medicine, speak to your community pharmacy for advice about how they can help.

• If you are well and able to visit the pharmacy yourself, think about how you can help family, friends and neighbours who are self-isolating by collecting their medicines on their behalf (you may need to take ID with you and you will need to know the name and address of the person you are collecting for).

Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Andrew Evans, said: “Our pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and their teams are committed to helping the public continue to access their medicines and offering help and advice.

“But they are under significant pressure and many of their own staff may not be in work because they are self-isolating to keep themselves and the public safe.

“Remember pharmacy teams will be doing everything they can to ensure people are able to get the medicines they need when they need them, please show them the respect they deserve. By following these five simple steps you can help your pharmacy to keep giving everyone the support they need.”