About your pharmacist
Pharmacists are qualified healthcare professionals that can give you advice on a range of different health conditions. They can talk to you about your medicines and suggest treatments.
There are two main types of pharmacists that you might see in different situations.
Clinical pharmacists work in hospitals and GPs. You might see them if you’re staying in hospital for your lung condition.
Community pharmacists work in local pharmacies.
You can walk into your local pharmacy and ask to talk to a pharmacist. This is useful because:
- you don't need an appointment
- some pharmacies are open outside of GP surgery hours
- many pharmacies have a consultation room so you can talk to them privately.
Community pharmacists do not replace the support from your nurse or GP but they can help you in many ways. For example, if you have a question about your medicines, you want to get a flu or COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine, you want to talk about your lung condition, or you need general health and wellbeing advice.
If your pharmacist feels that you need more support, they have the right training to direct you to other services for help. This could mean referring you to your GP or another healthcare professional.
Not all pharmacies offer the same services, so it’s worth asking your local pharmacy about the services they offer and how they can help you.
Find a pharmacy near you:
How pharmacists can help with your lung condition
Advice about medicines and prescriptions
Pharmacists can offer advice on all your medicines. They can help you to make sure you’re taking them safely and correctly.
It’s important to take your medicines as prescribed so that you’re getting the full benefit from them. If you’re worried about side effects or there’s anything else that’s stopping you from taking your medicines, talk to your pharmacist.
You can also ask your pharmacist about any over-the-counter medicines you’re taking, such as antihistamines for hay fever. They can advise you on how to take them safely alongside any other medicines you’re taking.
Your pharmacist can also help with medicines for other conditions without you needing to see a GP first. For example, they can treat minor illnesses like coughs and colds.
Help with new medicines
Your pharmacist can help you to understand the correct dose of new medicines and how often you need to take them.
If you live in England, you can talk to your pharmacist about the New Medicine Service. This service helps people with some long-term conditions, including asthma and COPD.
When you’ve just been diagnosed with asthma or COPD or if you’ve been prescribed new medicines including a new inhaler device, you can have up to three free appointments with a pharmacist. You can ask them questions about how to take your medications and talk about any worries you have, like side effects.
Check your current medicines are working for you
If you’re taking a range of medicines, a clinical pharmacist working at your GP surgery may invite you to have a Structured Medications Review. This is a free NHS service. It’s a good opportunity to understand more about your medications and side effects. You can also talk through how you’re feeling and any other health problems you’re having.
Setting up repeat prescriptions
If you’re taking the same medicine regularly, your pharmacist can help you set up a repeat prescription. You can also do this using the NHS app.
This means that when you’ve ordered a prescription once, your GP can approve the same medicine again and send it to your pharmacy automatically.
Find out more about how to order a repeat prescription.
We have information about getting help with prescription costs.
Inhaler technique
If you’re not sure whether you’re using your inhalers properly, you can ask your pharmacist to check your inhaler technique. Using your inhaler correctly helps you to breathe the medicine straight into your lungs, where it’s needed. You’re less likely to get side effects because the medicine isn’t being absorbed into the rest of your body. Good inhaler technique can also help make sure you’re not wasting puffs so your inhaler lasts for the expected time. This is because getting the technique right makes sure all your medicine goes into your lungs and that it’s not being wasted.
Even if you think your inhaler technique is OK, there may still be room for improvement so that more of the medicine gets into your lungs. You can check your inhaler technique now by watching our short videos on the correct way to use your inhaler.
Pharmacists cannot change your prescriptions but if you’re struggling to use your inhaler, they can talk you through other inhaler devices that might work better for you. If you think you’d benefit from changing your inhaler type, you should talk to your GP.
Check how you're managing your lung condition
Your pharmacist can check how well you’re managing your asthma using the Asthma Control Test.
This is a short set of questions asking how you felt over the past four weeks, such as:
- How often have you had shortness of breath?
- How often have you used your reliever inhaler?
If your results show that your asthma is not well controlled, your pharmacist will help you with the next steps. They may refer you to another healthcare professional to support you.
Your pharmacist can check how well you’re managing your COPD by using the COPD Assessment Test (CAT).
This is a set of statements that help to understand how you’re feeling about things like:
- How often you cough
- How well you’ve been sleeping
If your results show that your COPD is not well controlled, your pharmacist will help you with the next steps. They may refer you to another healthcare professional to support you.
Other useful pharmacy services
Other types of pharmacy services can help you stay healthy and support your lung condition.
Stop smoking and vaping advice
Stopping smoking is one of the best things for your health. You can ask your pharmacist for advice and support on how to stop smoking. They can tell you about local stop-smoking sessions, refer you to a stop smoking adviser and give advice about nicotine replacement therapies that can help.
Some pharmacies may also offer a Smoking Cessation Service. This is for people who have started stop smoking programmes in hospital and have been referred to the service.
You can also ask your pharmacist for advice about vaping and e-cigarettes. This includes how vaping might help you to stop smoking and any other worries you might have about it.
Staying a healthy weight
Eating well and staying a healthy weight is an important part of managing your lung condition. You can ask your pharmacist for help and advice on keeping to a healthy weight. This could be about eating a balanced diet or keeping active. They may tell you about local support groups and offer leaflets with more information.
Safely disposing your inhalers
When you’ve used up your inhaler, you should take it to a pharmacy. They can safely dispose of old or unwanted medicines like inhalers in an environmentally friendly way.
Getting vaccinated
If you have a lung condition, including asthma, you should be able to get a free flu vaccination.
Most pharmacies can provide flu vaccinations. If you have your flu vaccine at a pharmacy, the pharmacist should tell your GP that you’ve had it.
Find a pharmacy that offers the NHS flu vaccine.
If you’re eligible for the NHS COVID-19 vaccine, pharmacies can also offer this. Sometimes you can walk in without an appointment.
Find a pharmacy that offers the COVID-19 vaccine.
If you’re not sure whether you can get a free vaccine, ask your pharmacist or check online.
Signposting to other services
Pharmacists might signpost you to charities or local services for more help. For example, organisations that could advise on damp and mould problems in your home, or support for your mental health.
Get support
Call or WhatsApp our Helpline for support with your condition. Get advice on your medicines, symptoms or travelling with a lung condition, or just call us to say hello.
