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Public Holiday Pharmacy openings (11/03/18)

There are a number of Bank Holidays coming up in the next few months, including the Easter weekend. Community Pharmacies will continue to provide a service, albeit a reduced one on these days. Click below for details of pharmacy opening times over the forthcoming bank holidays.

Prescription charge rise (27/02/2018)

The Government has announced an increase to the NHS prescription charge of 20 pence, to £8.80 per prescription item. This change will come into effect from 1st April 2018.

The cost of prescription pre-payment certificates (PPCs) has remained the same for a further year, with the price of a three-month PPC at £29.10 and a 12-month PPC at £104. PPCs offer savings for those needing four or more items in three months or more than 12 items in one year. More

Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield – New Primary Care Access (08/03/17)

With effect from 1 April 2017 DDES CCG is changing the way in which GP services are delivered in its area.

Click here to access comprehensive information from the CCG website.

People living in the DDES CCG area will shortly be receiving through the post an information leaflet and pocket guide explaining the changes.

Sexual Health Services – Co Durham and Darlington (01/11/16)

Your local community pharmacy provides a wide range of services over and above the dispensing of your medicines. Click on the link below to access an information leaflet detailing what those services are. Not all pharmacies provide all the services listed: if you visit a pharmacy and they don’t provide the service you need they will signpost you to the nearest pharmacy that will be able to help you.

Services from County Durham & Darlington Pharmacies

Make use of your local pharmacist

Gone are the days when the white-coated pharmacist stayed in the back of the shop counting out pills and checking medicine bottles. Nowadays, although pharmacists still carry out their core business of making up prescriptions, they are also kept busy providing expert advice to their customers.

Choose Well

Newton Aycliffe pharmacist Rob Pitt reckons he talks to between 40 and 50 people every day, sometimes over the counter and sometimes for a more confidential chat in a private part of the shop.

“ If someone has tried self treatment for a condition, for example, a sniffley nose in winter, and they are still not happy with it, they can come to us. When I can help with treatment, I will or I might advise people to go to their GP or signpost them to other places they can get help.

`’Usually we are not restricted by appointments and some pharmacies are open at least six days a week. So people can drop in at a time that’s convenient to them and get one to one advice for minor ailments like coughs, headaches or diarrhoea. Or they can phone us if they prefer.”

Most people have a pharmacy close to their homes – in fact nationally, 96% of the population have a shop within 20 minutes of where they live. And often people find they can talk more freely in an informal chat with their pharmacist, who is a highly skilled health professional with at least five years training and practical experience.