To help safely manage demand for our service, we have reviewed our appointment system. From Monday the 30th May 2022, you will still phone and speak to a patient care advisor, who will arrange a callback with a member of our clinical staff.

When we have reached full capacity for the morning slots, we will move to urgent requests only and ask you to call back after 13:30pm for a routine callback in the afternoon.

PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR ECONSULT IS ONLY IN USE BETWEEN 0800 AM & 1000 AM

We will be closed between 12:30 and 13:30

Thank you for your understanding/cooperation,

Wester Hailes Medical Practice

What is Pharmacy First Scotland?

NHS Pharmacy First Scotland will allow community pharmacies to give people expert help for treating conditions such as sore throats, earache and cold sores, along with common clinical conditions such as urinary tract infections (UTI's). Pharmacy teams offers advice, treatment or referral to other healthcare teams if required.

This service will help people access the right care in the right place, without having to go to their GP practice or local Accident and Emergency Department for non-urgent treatment.

Information on how you and your doctor (or other healthcare professional) can work together to decide whether you need a medicine and, if so, which to prescribe, can be found in the Healthcare Improvement Scotland publication Medicines in Scotland: What's the right treatment for me?. This booklet also explains the likely benefits and possible risks of medicines.

You can go to your community pharmacy for advice and medicines for minor illnesses from the Pharmacy First service. Minor illnesses include:

Acne - Allergies - Athlete's Foot - Backache - Blocked or runny nose - Cold sores - Constipation - Cough - Cystitis - (in women) - Diarrhoea - Earache - Eczema - Headache - Head Lice - Haemorrhoids (piles) - Hay Fever - Impetigo - Indigestion - Mouth Ulcers - Pain - Period Pain - Sore Throat - Threadworms - Thrush - Warts - Verrucas

More information is available at NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.

Information about getting the right treatment for common viral illnesses such as colds and coughs without encouraging antibiotic resistance can be found in the NHS publication Get Well Soon Without Antibiotics.

Pharmacy team

Health board pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are becoming more involved in the care of patients in General Practice. Having the pharmacy team working in our surgery provides valuable medicines support, a close link with our community pharmacy teams and allows our GPs to focus their skills and time where they are most needed for patients who have more complex needs.

What does the pharmacy team do?

Provide expertise on day-to-day medicines
Give advice for patients taking multiple medications
Carry out medication reviews and other medicines-related support, including discussing side effects
Give help for patients with their medicines following a stay in hospital, particularly if there has been a change in regimen
Answer medications and prescription-related questions
Produce prescriptions
Support managing patients’ long-term conditions, such as high blood pressure

When you may get an appointment with one of the pharmacy team

Our pharmacists can provide telephone and face-to-face appointments. The pharmacists, pharmacy technicians or the doctors often review some or all of your medicines and may want to talk with you about the medicines you are currently taking. In the practice we like to review your medicine at least once a year, or more often if needed.

You may have heard people referring to Polypharmacy. It means lots of medicines. A medicine review is particularly useful for people who take a lot of medicines; for these people their medicines review may be called a Polypharmacy Review. Further information is on the NHS Scotland’s website Polypharmacy: Manage medicines or the Managing Multiple Medicines app (available at: Polypharmacy: Manage Medicines)