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What to expect from your pharmacist

Pharmacists and chemists play a key role in providing quality healthcare to patients. Working in the community, primary care and hospitals, pharmacists use their clinical expertise together with their practical knowledge to ensure the safe supply and use of medicines by patients and members of the public. A pharmacist has to be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and has to have worked for at least a year under the supervision of an experienced and qualified pharmacist, either in a hospital or community pharmacy (local chemist's shop).

Pharmacists and chemists also offer advice on common problems such as coughs, colds, aches and pains, as well as healthy eating and stopping smoking. They can also help you decide whether you need to see a doctor.

You can talk to your pharmacist in confidence, even about the most personal symptoms and you don't need to make an appointment. It is possible to walk into any community pharmacy and ask to speak with the pharmacist. They may be able to spend some time with you. Most pharmacies now have a private consultation area where patients can discuss issues with pharmacy staff without being overheard by other members of the public.

Use the Find and choose services option on this site to do a postcode search for local pharmacies.

 

Pharmacists dispense your prescriptions and other medicines, offer testing and screening for common conditions and can advise on minor ailments.

The services that may be available from your local pharmacy are:

  • emergency contraception
  • truss fittings
  • incontinence supplies
  • needle exchange and supervised drug administration
  • pregnancy testing
  • stop smoking services
  • Medicines Use Reviews (see information below)
  • New Medicine Service (available from October 1 2011)
  • chlamydia screening and treatment
  • weight management

Minor ailments include:

  • bugs and viruses
  • minor injuries
  • tummy troubles
  • women's health
  • skin conditions
  • allergies
  • aches and pains
  • children's problems

Standards of conduct, ethics and performance

Pharmacists have to meet standards of conduct, ethics and performance set by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). They set out the behaviours, attitudes and values expected of pharmacy professionals and explain the minimum standards that all pharmacy professionals must comply with. They also inform patients and the public of the standards that they can expect from pharmacy professionals.

If a pharmacist fails to meet these standards of conduct, ethics and performance, they could have their name removed from the GPhC's register and be unable to practise as a result.

Are there different types of pharmacists?

Pharmacists normally work in one of two areas, in hospital pharmacies and in community pharmacies on the high street and in many of the larger supermarkets.

Community pharmacists prepare and dispense prescription and non-prescription medicines to the general public. They are also able to give advice to customers on how to use their medicines and will highlight any possibe side effects and which medicines should not be used in conjunction with alcohol or other types of medication.

The hospital pharmacist is part of a hospital team, providing, preparing and dispensing medicines to patients who are or have been treated in the hospital.

What is a pharmacy out-of-hours service?

Community pharmacies already play their part in the provision of out-of-hours (OOH) pharmacy services through extended opening hours, rota services and on-call services. Community pharmacists can also set up OOH pharmaceutical services, such as minor ailment schemes, which support the provision of OOH services by primary care trusts (PCT) or organised OOH providers.

OOH medicines can be supplied by community pharmacies. However, in many areas a specific OOH provider supplies medicines when pharmacies are closed.

Please note that if a prescription is obtained through the OOH service, then prescription charges are still applicable unless the patient is exempt. The payment method may differ from one provider to another.

 

How do I make a complaint about my pharmacy?

Any complaint regarding a pharmacist, pharmacy technician or the owner of a pharmacy should be made in writing to the General Pharmaceutical Council. You can raise a concern by completing the online complaints form (PDF, 121 kb) and returning it to the General Pharmaceutical Council either by email at concerns@pharmacyregulation.org or by post at:

Raising a concern
GPhC
129 Lambeth Road
LONDON
SE1 7BJ

Phone: 020 3365 3603

Find out more about how to complain in our NHS complaints section.

What is the Electronic Prescription Service?

The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) will enable electronic prescriptions to be generated, transmitted, received and dispensed by pharmacists. Electronic prescriptions will eventually replace paper ones in most cases.

Around 1.5 million prescriptions are issued every working day in England, and this figure is expected to rise by 5% each year. As a result, the paper-based system needs to be replaced with an electronic one which is more efficient, consistently accurate and able to cope with expected further increases in the number of prescriptions. In particular, about 70% of prescriptions are now repeat prescriptions and the new service has been designed to make it quicker and easier to dispense them.

Over time, the EPS will bring a range of benefits to patients, GPs and other staff. For example, patients will no longer have to visit their GP surgery just to collect a prescription. This will save time for both patients and GP surgery staff. Also, accuracy will be improved because prescription information will not need to be typed in by both the GP and again by the pharmacist. Prescriptions will be complete with full details of the medicines being prescribed.

Many pharmacists will no longer need to collect patients' prescriptions from surgeries. Prescription details will no longer need to be keyed in by pharmacists, saving them time, and making it easier to manage stock.

Find out how you can get help with prescription costs.

Internet drugs

As more people use the internet to understand their health issues, some also go online to buy prescription drugs. But many online pharmacies are unregistered, so buying from them is potentially unsafe.

Drugs, such as the anti-impotence drug Viagra and the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, can be bought online cheaply and without a GP’s prescription. This is risky, as medications should only be taken under the supervision of a health professional. Their guidance on whether the drug is suitable for you, the dosage, possible side effects, and any harmful interactions with other medications is crucial.

Drugs ordered over the internet from an unregistered website could also be out-of-date, diluted or fake. They could be dangerous to your health.

It can be difficult to distinguish between registered online pharmacies and other commercial websites. The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) operates an internet pharmacy logo scheme to identify legitimate online pharmacies so that you can be sure you are purchasing safe and genuine medicines online. For more information read the Internet pharmacy section on the GPhC website.

An online pharmacy must receive a legally valid prescription before dispensing medicines. This means they'll need a physical, paper prescription from your GP or other health professional. You can post the prescription yourself if you like, but an email prescription is not sufficient. Once the prescription has been received, the medicine can be dispensed and sent to you. 

Alternatively, some sites offer prescriber services, where an online consultation takes place and a prescription is subsequently sent to a pharmacy for dispensing. This must be a legally valid paper prescription.  An online consultation is legal but the BMA (British Medical Association) opposes it and the General Medical Council (GMC) can prosecute for inappropriate prescribing and failing to make adequate diagnoses over the internet. 

Self-diagnosing

Problems come when individuals diagnose their own condition, then obtain prescription medicine online without a prescription.  The website providing this medicine is acting illegally. 

Summary of what to look out for

  • You should always gets your medicine from a pharmacy or a reputable outlet
  • It is never a good idea to take a prescription medicine without a valid prescription. The medicine may not be suitable for you and could result in unpleasant side effects or serious health risks.
  • Medicines should not be seen as regular consumer products. Fake medicines can cause real harm to your health.
  • Don’t be tempted by 'spam' emails advertising cheap medicine for sale – if something looks too good to be true it usually is.
  • Check for the internet pharmacy logo when buying medicine online
  • You can also check the registration status of the pharmacist by looking for the name and address of the pharmacy operating the website, as it should be connected to a 'bricks and mortar' pharmacy.
  • Medicine sold from unreputable websites can be poor quality at best and dangerous at worst – what you receive in the mail could be counterfeit, substandard or unapproved new drugs, which can put your safety at risk. 

Medicines Use Review (MUR) service

This is is an appointment with a pharmacist to check on how you are getting on with your medicines, which is useful if you regularly take several prescription medicines or are on medicines for a long-term illness.

This confidential service will help you to find out more about your medicine, identify any problems you may be having with taking your medicines as intended and help you to take your medicines to best effect.

You can learn more by reading the Medicines Use Review leaflet from the Department of Health (PDF, 365kb).

How do I train to be a pharmacist?

To become a pharmacist in Great Britain you will need:

  • A-level chemistry plus other A or AS-levels, such as biology and mathematics
  • a four-year Master of Pharmacy degree from a UK school of pharmacy
  • one year's practical training in a pharmacy after completing the degree (this is called preregistration training)

  • to pass an examination at the end of your year of preregistration training in order to register with the General Pharmaceutical Council

Read more about the education and training recognised by the General Pharmaceutical Council. Further information is also available on the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) Careers website.

For more information on careers for pharmacists in the NHS, as well as many other professions, please visit the NHS Careers website.

Comments

15 Comments

Our rules

Comments are personal views. Any information they give has not been checked and may not be accurate.

Pommy said on 23 November 2012

Five weeks ago, I went to a pharmacy to get a prescribed medicine. They only had one of the four required and gave me a slip to come back later.

When I went back today they said that they could not find my medicines and I was asked, in the kind of voice used when talking to an imbecile, if I had already collected them ( in spite of still having the reclaim slip ).

Then I was told, in the same derogatory tone, that they must have delivered them to me. I was fuming at this stage but agreed to go and check with my lodgers as I felt on the point of shouting at her.

I had specifically asked to return to collect them because I am aware of the problems of deliveries going missing. They they treat me like that!

Because its a private profit making company I cannot make any meaningful complaint to them.

They also sell sugar lollies for 20p to encourage children to eat food to decay their teeth. I am sure those are sold for the profit it generates and not for any health reason!

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labradoodle said on 16 October 2012

My husband received a prescription from an A&E department late last night, the hospital Pharmacy closed at 5pm. He took the prescription to our local Pharmacy and they refused it stating he had to return to the hospital that gave it to him. Surely this cannot be right. He is in agony and unable at present to get his precription.

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Vigiarr said on 01 September 2012

This article implies you can simply walk in to your local chemist and see a pharmacist. It even states you do not need to make an appointment.

Whenever I have asked to see the pharmacist I have been told they are either out at a meeting, at lunch, or otherwise busy or engaged. I am simply told to call back later or try elsewhere.

The same attitude of "call back later" applies to collecting prescriptions. Do the NHS monitor service levels with pharmacies in the community like they do with other NHS services?

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User694546 said on 02 July 2012

In reply to gunters misleading comments about pharmacist ethics.

Cough syrups were designed to relive the symptoms associated with the cough not treat the underlying causes. For some people it does help whilst for others not so much. A pharmacist will never happily sell you a product that is unsuitable or detrimental for you. Some people even after knowing that the product might not work still insist on purchasing the product because they just want to do something about it. How many times have you heard patients demanding antibiotics for colds even though it has no effect?

Pharmacist do not mislead patients about any medicines they sell.

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Guntur said on 11 March 2012

I do not understand how pharmacist can be experts in medicine and yet still happily sell patients and shoppers non-medicines like cough mixtures and linctus which have no good evidence for their use in those with a cough.

Surely it is unethical for a pharmacist to sell products which do no good. Perhaps they are just influenced by the profit they make on the sale?

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wbrown said on 08 February 2012

My Pharmacist is superb! I consult him more often than i do my GP, as i have known him for a long time and trust him. Contrary to some of the above comments, my pharmacist does not just stick a label on a box! They use their intensive 5 years worth of training to clinically assess all my prescriptions. He is also very knowedgeble about a wide range of health conditions.
Only a pharmacist has the unique clinical skills to assess the suitability of medicines for a particular patient by taking into account the dose, medical condition, patient characteristics (age, allergies, long term conditions etc..) and of course the many drug interactions that exist.

we are so lucky to have such dedicated healthcare professional available on every high street. Thank you Pharmacists!

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Eggham said on 08 November 2011

Although pharmacists can offer advice it is never impartial, They always have a retail / business owner hat as well as a professional advice hat. They wear them both at the same time and I often find them advising me to buy non-prescription items alongside the prescription mediicines.

This article does not explain how the pharmacy industry does nothing to avoid this conflict of interest between good medical advice and maximising profits.

Why do retail sales staff wear clinical overcoats in pharmacies anyway? It is all very confusing and a reason why many people like me always go to see a GP who has no financial interest in selling medicines.

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Refriedn said on 07 November 2011

Although pharamcists are well trained they offer poor value and poor customer service.

1) They can refuse to provide medicine including contraceptives due to their own personal beliefs, which are allowed to surpass those of treating patients.
2) Most pharmacies do not offer any appointment system. Although pharmacists are local in a community the need for a (sick) customer to simply return at a more covenient time is driven by the requirements of the pharmacist not the patient.
3) They encourage medicines to be kept on the Prescription-Only Monopoly rather than freely available as over-the-counter or through super-markets, internet and cheaper retail distribution channels. This ensures their patients pay higher prices to keep their retail shops open and profits high.
4) Many do not have English as a first of even second language and are difficult to understand.

It would be helpful to record the average earnings of a pharmacist if their years of training are promoted on comments.

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User9999 said on 22 August 2011

Retail and hospital pharmacists both come out of university with identical qualifications and it's the training and experience they get after this which determines their particular expertise.
Hospital pharmacists usually have greater clinical knowledge owing to the clinical diploma they have to undertake as part of their training. Some retail pharmacists also do a clinical diploma, however, it isn't considered routine.
Retail pharmacists focus more heavily on retail business management, diagnosing and treating minor ailments and act as triage in the community, saving doctors time by avoiding unnecessary appointments. This is a service which costs the NHS nothing as it is funded by the private sale of medicines.
They are also essential to regulate the distribution of prescription medicines and pharmacy only medicines.
They are now expanding the NHS services they provide to include sexual health screening and treatment, addiction treatment, smoking cessation, vaccinations, disease screening (diabetes, chlamydia, hepatitis). As this is a part of the profession still in development, service provision can be patchy and usually depends on the support of the local health authority (primary care trust).
So rather than having time on their hands to test blood pressure because their job is so easy, they are actively seeking to expand the healthcare services they provide to the general public both privately and NHS commissioned.
Much like doctors and nurses in general practice.

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cukoo22 said on 11 April 2011

Dear User533684,

I am sorry that you appear to have a poor impression of pharmacists.

Although this page doesn't express it clearly, and chemist22 did a much better attempt at clarifying, a pharmacist is far more that a dispenser who checks if a label is printed properly.

Pharmacists undergo 5 years of intensive training and examination (following A-levels) before they can be considered a junior pharmacist. This is only one year less that a doctor, and 2/3 years more than a nurse and other professions. This time is not spent learning how to read a computer screen.

The majority of the 4 year masters degree is spent learning about the chemistry, pharmacokinetics and the mechanism of action of drugs. There is such a heavy focus on how the medicines actually work because this is hardly covered at all during a doctor or nurses education. The pharmacists role is to support the prescribing of appropriate drugs by supporting their healthcare colleagues. It is impossible for you doctor to know everything, and they rely very heavily during their hosptial induction years on the expertise of the ward pharmacist.

A pharmacist is the prescriber's (doctor or dentists) safety net. They make sure the medication prescribed will not harm you. On average a pharmacist has to correct about 10% of the prescriptions they receive in a community pharmacy and about 50% in hospital. Many countless lives have been saved by the actions of the pharmacist and it saddens me that their skills are so under appreciated.

When your local pharmacist is double checking your prescription, it is not to make sure the computer did it correctly, but to be sure there are no interactions with your other medication; with your medical condition; or with your body in general. They are also deciding if this is the safest medication for you, and will often call your GP to discuss any concerns.

I hope that reassures you that a pharmacist is far more that a 'technician'.

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Pepsicle said on 02 March 2011

It would be helpful to see a list of services available at local, community pharmacies on the NHS choices website. It would also be patient focussed to advise which parmacists opt out of offering medicines due to personal beliefs. If I need emergency contraception I do not want to find out that the pharmacist serving me refuses to issue it on ethical grounds if I can avoid it. At the moment it is trial and error. I accept pharmacists are highly educated but they seem to miss out of patient and customer service and care.

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User533684 said on 01 March 2011

Dear LadyMarm.

A pharmacist can best be described as a technician involved in the health care process. Best way to think of this is when a Healthcare professional ie Dentist/GP prescribes your medicine, the GP is using all the medical training and experience to hand to find the best treatment. The GP is therefore your medical expert. Now when you visit the pharmacy, it is often the dispenser who is will prepare your medicine and the pharmacist as a final check will check the medicine against what they have on their computer & get the label ready for the patients' ease.

Nurses are trained slightly different in that their knowledge of the actual disease and patient care is superior to a pharmacist. A pharmacist is however the best placed person to check your medicines & dosages & if you are ever unsure you can always obtain a BNF (british national formulary) or use reputable sites on the net.

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L6000 said on 01 January 2011

I was hoping to see if not a direct link to information about which is the duty chemist locally on any day, then at least information about where I can find out. Tried to ring NHS direct but there is a massive wait and a four hour ring back time. Would be extremely helpful to have this information online.

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chemist22 said on 04 December 2010

Dear LadyMarm, All pharmacists are required- via the new Pharmacy Contract- to offer a set minimum of services.
Following this, the additional services a pharmacist offers is dependent upon the company for whom they work.
Healthcare professionals, i.e- pharmacists, doctors, nurses, dentists are all required to be highly educated and trained- represented by holding the respective qualifications and membership to respective professional bodies. The difference lays in the fact that the pharmacist is the drug expert- the Master of Pharmacy degree is heavily science orientated alongside healthcare training and covers a huge variety of subjects to deep extents- meaning we can deal with a greater variety of situations to a nurse and when it comes to medications and their usage- to a doctor. We know how the drugs are made, what they look like at a molecular level and therefore how they affect the body as we have a deep understanding of physiology. We know how each drug interacts with others and when and how to take properly to get the best results. We know, based on clinical evidence, which drug is best for each medical condition and at what doseage and for how long- along with what needs to be monitored. You pharmacist takes all of this into account when dispensing your prescription. You will find that many pharmacists hold further qualifications and are specialists within specific areas such as diabetes. The main point is that all pharmacists have a minimum educational and training standard- which is extremely high. We have to keep up to date with new knowledge via continuing professional development- and we are assessed once a year on this. It is up to the pharmacist if he or she wants to further their training in certain areas following this.

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LadyMarm said on 28 November 2010

How are patients suppose to know which pharmacy offers which service. It is not listed on the NHS choices website. Is there a minimum standard of services available, as with GPs or can each pharmacy shop choose? This page only lists services that MAY be available. It would be helpful to know the servies which ARE provided at my local pharmacy. I would also like ot know if pharmacists have different qualification levels like nurses and doctors or are they all trained to the same standard. Are there any specialists in community pharmacies or are they all the same?

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Last reviewed: 11/04/2011

Next review due: 10/04/2013

Prescription costs as of April 1 2013

  •  - Prescription - £7.85 per item
  •  - 12 months prepayment certificate (PPC) - £104.00 
  •  - 3 months PPC - £29.10

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