How you can support your local pharmacy during the Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to changes in the way we access care. At this time, pharmacy services are vital for protecting you and your community, particularly those who are most vulnerable. For pharmacies to succeed they need your support.

The experience when you visit your local pharmacy now will be different, and you will need to play your part with social distancing. There will be measures in place to protect staff and patients. They are:

• Screens in place to avoid contaminating staff
• Tape on the floor to help patients maintain social distancing
• Encouraging patients to pay with contactless debit or credit cards rather than cash
• Limits on the number of patients allowed inside the pharmacy at one time
• Asking patients to wait outside for some prescriptions

Despite many medical supply shortages nationally, community pharmacists are doing all they can to keep their most popular items such as paracetamol and hand gel in stock. If your local pharmacist runs out of something please be patient with them and kindly respect that they will re-stock your product as soon as possible. If there are limits in place on certain items, it's so that everyone can buy what they need.

There are a number of other things for you to consider if you think you need pharmacy services:

• Do not visit a pharmacy if you are experiencing symptoms of coronavirus (including fever and/or a cough). You should stay at home and self-isolate if you experience these symptoms. If you think you need to seek medical advice for your symptoms, use Patient's coronavirus checker (www.patientaccess.com/coronavirus) to find out what to do next
• If you need your medicines to be collected from the pharmacy, arrange with a friend, relative, a local volunteering service or NHS volunteers through the GoodSam App. If you have received a letter saying that you are in the extremely vulnerable (shielded) group and cannot arrange for someone to collect your medicines contact your pharmacy who will support you to ensure you receive your medicines
• Do not over-order your repeat prescriptions or request much earlier than you need them. To prevent shortages, order only what you need when you need it
• Avoid or minimise trips to the surgery and the pharmacy by requesting your repeat prescriptions online and asking the surgery to send the prescription electronically to your nominated pharmacy
• You can order your repeat prescriptions and change your nominated pharmacy online through the NHS App. Download and register with the NHS App for free on Google Play and Apple App Store
• Allow at least three working days from ordering your prescription before arranging to collect your medicines from the pharmacy
• If you no longer need a prescription or medication, tell the pharmacist before it is dispensed to save the NHS time and money
• Be patient with the pharmacy team. They are working in incredibly difficult and stressful environments right now whilst still trying to deliver the best care possible. Medicines may take a little longer to be dispensed, but wait patiently
• You may have to queue to get into a pharmacy because they are limiting the number of people going in at one time. Make sure to observe social distancing (two-metre distance between you and another person) in the queue and inside the pharmacy

We want to acknowledge the great work that community pharmacy teams are doing on our behalf. Speaking about their amazing efforts, Dr Andrew Steeden, Chair of NHS West London Clinical Commissioning Group said, “I am very proud of our local pharmacy staff who stand on the front line every day in the fight against coronavirus. Pharmacies are a key provider of care closer to home any way but during this crucial time for our local populations they are providing an amazing and selfless service.”