{"id":1485,"date":"2025-12-04T11:25:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T11:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/pages\/pharmacy-services\/core-services\/pharmacy-first\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T16:55:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:55:07","slug":"pharmacy-first","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/pages\/pharmacy-services\/core-services\/pharmacy-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharmacy First"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Pharmacy First <\/strong>is an NHS service available in Scotland that provides treatment, advice and referral for a range of clinical conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How does it work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Access<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You can visit any pharmacy (no GP referral needed).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some pharmacies may require an appointment if demand is high.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Consultation<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A pharmacist will assess your symptoms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They can diagnose and prescribe medication for certain conditions or refer you if necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Conditions Covered<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Examples include:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Urinary tract infections (UTIs)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Respiratory infections<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ear, nose &amp; throat issues<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Skin conditions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Eye infections (with optometry support)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allergies and other acute common conditions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Resources (useful links)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.publications.scot.nhs.uk\/files\/pca2020-p-13.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Circular PCA(P)(2020)13<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.publications.scot.nhs.uk\/files\/pca2020-p-16.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Circular PCA(P)(2020)16<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Official NHS Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>NHS Inform \u2013 Pharmacy Services<\/strong><br>This is the main public-facing NHS site for Scotland. It explains how Pharmacy First Scotland works and includes details about pharmacists who can prescribe.<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhsinform.scot\/care-support-and-rights\/nhs-services\/pharmacy\/nhs-pharmacy-first-scotland\">Visit NHS Inform<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Community Pharmacy Scotland<\/strong><br>This site provides professional guidance, updates, and resources for Pharmacy First including prescribing frameworks and formulary details.<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cps.scot\/nhs-pharmacy-first-scotland\/\">Community Pharmacy Scotland \u2013 Pharmacy First<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conditions &amp; Approved Medicines<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>Pharmacy First Formulary<\/strong> and approved list of medicines are published by Community Pharmacy Scotland.<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cps.scot\/latest-news\/pharmacy-first-approved-list-march-2025\">Approved List &amp; Updates<\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/nhs-pharmacy-first-scotland-approved-list-of-products-v39-01-january-2026.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of nhs-pharmacy-first-scotland-approved-list-of-products-v39-01-january-2026.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-441e4d83-6586-408a-a01f-7df730bd3399\" href=\"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/nhs-pharmacy-first-scotland-approved-list-of-products-v39-01-january-2026.pdf\">nhs-pharmacy-first-scotland-approved-list-of-products-v39-01-january-2026<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/nhs-pharmacy-first-scotland-approved-list-of-products-v39-01-january-2026.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-441e4d83-6586-408a-a01f-7df730bd3399\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"nhsuk-card__description\">Pharmacy First is an NHS service available in Scotland that provides treatment, advice and referral for a range of clinical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"parent":1479,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1485","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1485"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2004,"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1485\/revisions\/2004"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-highland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}