Community Pharmacy

You can visit any community pharmacy to receive this service for expert help in treating conditions such as sore throats, earache and cold sores, along with common clinical conditions such as urinary tract infections (UTI's). If the pharmacy can’t resolve your issue, or if you require specialist assessment, they can refer you to other healthcare teams.

 The Pharmacy First Service helps you access the right care in the right place, without having to go to your GP practice or local Accident and Emergency Department for non-urgent treatment.

For more information, the Pharmacy First section of NHSinform.scot where a range of translated materials are also available.

Acute Medication Service

The Acute Medication Service (AMS). This means the electronic transmission of prescription information between your GP and the community pharmacy, or the dispensing of NHS prescriptions.

Medication: Care and Review

Medicines: Care and Review (M:CR) allows patients with long-term conditions to receive medicines and pharmaceutical care from their pharmacy. More information is available here.  

Serial Prescriptions  

As part of the M:CR service, you may be eligible for a serial prescription if you receive regular repeat prescription medicines. This means that instead of ordering your medicines every one or two months, your GP will issue a long-term prescription which will last for 24, 48 or 56 weeks. You can then collect your medicines from your pharmacy every four or eight weeks. There is no need to order from the GP practice and your medicines will be ready to collect from the pharmacy when you need them. 

You can find out more by asking at your pharmacy or GP practice.

Public Health Service

The Public Health Service (PHS) provides a health-promoting environment within the pharmacy - including promoting national health campaigns.

Within the pharmacy, this service also offers:

• Sexual health service and Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC)
• A stop smoking (smoking cessation) service
• Gluten Free Foods Service (GFFS)
• Access to paracetamol for childhood vaccinations where appropriate

Additional Services

Community pharmacies may also offer the following services and information: 

• Travel vaccination service (Find out more)
• Flu vaccination service
• Buprenorphine and Methadone dispensing and supervision
• Injection Equipment Provision
• Return of medicines waste and prescribed sharps
• Naloxone Supply Service
• Palliative Care
• Stoma Service
• Hepatitis C treatment

For further information on when you should seek advice from your local pharmacy, see the NHS Fife Right Care Right Place section.