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Whether managing an injury, short-term illness or chronic health conditions, your local pharmacy knows that the people who come to us for prescription deliveries, dispensing or Pharmacy First consultations will not necessarily have static medical needs.

Even if you have a repeat prescription for a long-term medical condition, you will generally have a consultation every few months to ensure that the medication is working for you, to report any concerns or side effects and to ensure the dosage is correct and proportionate.

Whilst some prescriptions can stay the same for years at a time, it is more often the case that a prescription will change than it will not, and this can be initiated by the prescribing doctor, the patient or the pharmacist, depending on the situation.

Here are some of the reasons why prescriptions may change, grouped by the person likely to change them.

Why Might You Want Your Prescription Altered?

Typically, the main reasons why a patient would want their medication changed are that it is not working for them, it does not fit with their lifestyle due to an awkward dosing regimen, or the side effects are causing problems that make them not want to take the medication as prescribed.

There are often multiple options for medications for chronic conditions precisely because there is no one-size-fits-all solution for some people. If there are problems with the dose that risk nonadherence, talk to your doctor, and they will see if there is anything that can help, including prescribing another medication.

It is essential to tell your doctor about any issues you are having as soon as possible if you do not have a follow-up appointment soon.

Why Might Your Doctor Change Your Prescription?

A doctor will prescribe you medication because, according to their clinical judgement based on your symptoms, medical history and wider research into a particular condition, it is the best possible choice for your condition.

Whilst they can change it, they will only do so with your knowledge and consent, and will typically do so based either on your experiences that could highlight potential side effects, the results of tests that may be a cause of concern, or if you are on another medication that could cause an interaction.

Alternatively, if a new medication that is demonstrably more effective for helping your condition is approved, they might suggest switching to it on a trial basis if there is the potential for significant improvements.

Why Might A Pharmacist Change Your Prescription?

Pharmacists have a very limited scope to change a prescription if they are not a dispensing doctor, but there are instances where they can change your prescription without talking to the prescribing doctor first.

The most common of these is to switch a branded medication to its generic like-for-like version once it enters the market, or they might change the type of medication from a tablet to a capsule, or multiple small tablets for one large one, if that makes it easier to take.

In exceptionally rare cases, a pharmacist can change one medication to a different drug in the same class and that has the same effect, but they will seldom do this without consulting your doctor first.

Emergency contraception, often referred to as the morning after pill, is designed to prevent you from falling pregnant after having unprotected sex. It is recommended that you take the morning after pill as soon as you can after having sex, although it can be effective up to five days after.

It’s important to note that emergency contraception doesn’t induce an abortion. Instead, it prevents you from getting pregnant in the first place.

What does the morning after pill do?

Very simply, emergency contraception delays or prevents ovulation. This means it stops your body releasing an egg into the womb. As a result, there is no possibility of pregnancy because the sperm has nothing to fertilise.

These pills are more effective the sooner after intercourse they are taken, so although you have a five-day window, it is best to visit a pharmacy that offers emergency contraception as soon as you can.

Different emergency contraception options

There are two main options for emergency hormonal contraception: the Levonelle pill and the ellaOne pill. Levonelle must be taken within three days, while ellaOne provides a window of up to five days.

It is thought that ellaOne is more effective than Levonelle, but Levonelle’s efficacy increases the sooner after sex you are able to take it.

That said, only between one and three per cent of people who take one of these emergency contraceptive pills fall pregnant, so the odds are good that if you visit a pharmacy quickly that it will work for you too.

Your pharmacist will be able to tell you which of the two options is best for your situation. They’ll take you into a private consulting room to talk you through the options and to ask a few questions about your medical history to make sure you are able to take the morning after pill safely.

Who can take the morning after pill?

The emergency contraceptive pill is suitable for most people. You can usually take it even if you can’t normally use hormonal contraceptives.

There are certain medications and herbal remedies that can affect the morning after pill and whether it’s effective, which is one of the reasons why the pharmacist will ask you some questions about your medical history.

Are there any other emergency contraception options?

Aside from the morning after pill, another option is to have a copper-bearing intrauterine device (IUD) fitted within 120 hours (five days) of having unprotected sex. However, you will need to make an appointment with your doctor or a sexual health clinic for this option as it requires specialist training and equipment to insert an IUD into the uterus.

One of the advantages of an IUD is that it will work as an ongoing contraceptive, so this is a good option if you want to be protected from an unwanted pregnancy longer term.

The copper-bearing IUD is also known to be the most effective form of emergency contraceptive available, as it is more than 99 per cent effective at preventing pregnancies.

I’m nervous about taking emergency contraception…

We understand that taking emergency contraception can feel scary or that you might be nervous coming to a pharmacy to ask for the morning after pill. Rest assured that our team are all highly professional and that they will make you feel safe if you need to access emergency contraception.

There are many reasons why you might need to take the morning after pill, from a condom breaking to realising that you have forgotten to take your regular contraceptive pill for a few days.

You don’t need to make an appointment to see us, you can walk in and ask to speak to our pharmacist about getting emergency contraception. The emergency contraceptive pill is free on the NHS, so there will be no charge either.

There is no doubt that as a nation, the UK has a major problem with excess weight, with the problem being significant in Scotland as elsewhere.

All manner of health problems can arise from this, from diabetes to heart disease and strokes, musculoskeletal problems (such as osteoarthritis) due to excess weight being carried by your frame, high blood pressure, poor mental health and pregnancy complications, to name but some of the many issues you can face.

Quite apart from that, many people simply want to get a lot fitter, becoming more active and also feeling happier with their physical appearance. This motivation is particularly strong in summer because those who are happy with their appearance will be likely to show off more skin, especially at the beach, while sunny days are great for doing sport and hiking.

How Weight Loss Programmes Can Help

However, losing weight is not an easy or simple thing to do and attempting to do it all by yourself based on your personal efforts and motivation will be difficult. That is why coming to our weight loss clinic in Glasgow may make all the difference.

Our programmes can offer a lot of practical advice for planning and preparing meals, but also other help and information connected with exercise (to help you burn off more calories), supplements and even weight loss medication. The last of these can include injections aimed at burning fat.

Of course, every so often, politicians may instigate their own measures aimed at improving health through better diets. A decade ago, there was the soft drinks tax aimed at reducing sugar in fizzy drinks, and now the UK government has launched a new ‘healthy food standard’ as part of the new ten-year health plan for the NHS.

This involves a partnership between the government and the food retail and manufacturing sector to “make the healthy choice the easy choice,” with the aim being to ensure the typical basket of edible goods is healthier than before, with fewer calories.

Retailers will be able to decide for themselves how to do this, with possibilities including changing ingredients (as happened after the soft drink tax was introduced), changing store layouts, or having discount and reward packages aimed at encouraging more purchases of healthier options.

Government Action Alone Is Not Enough

However, even initiatives of this sort may not be enough. Assuming the Scottish NHS follows its English counterpart and embraces this plan fully alongside the retail and food manufacturing sector in Scotland, some people may benefit, but it is more likely they will do so if they have a clear plan for their diet, alongside other steps to get fitter.

Announcing the plan, health secretary Wes Streeting said the rate of obesity across the UK had doubled since 1990, but if everyone were to reduce 50 calories, this would reduce the number of obese people by two million, including 340,000 children.

That may be true, but for some, a reduction of a great deal more than 50 calories may be needed to make significant progress. That is why you should seek the help that is available to ensure that you make the most of the opportunity to lose weight, improve your health and feel happier with your appearance.

Ear wax occurs naturally and serves an important purpose, namely to protect the inner parts of the ear by trapping dust and dirt. However, some of us suffer from an excess buildup of ear wax, which can cause its own issues.

Prime among them is hearing loss. In fact, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) estimates that 2.3 million Brits need to undergo ear wax removal every year. However, a buildup of ear wax doesn’t just make it harder to hear. For some people it causes pain and other discomfort like a ringing in the ears or vertigo.

If you have ever suffered from a buildup of ear wax, you’ll know first hand how uncomfortable it can be, as well as how much your quality of life improves after you deal with the issue.

One of the most effective ways to treat this condition is microsuction ear wax removal, which is a safe and painless way to remove excess ear wax.

How does microsuction work?

A trained pharmacist will use a low-pressure suction probe to remove the ear wax gently. This probe gets inserted into your ear, where it gently sucks the ear wax up and out of your ear. You might hear the ear wax being sucked up, but you shouldn’t feel any pain.

The probe doesn’t go anywhere near your inner ear, so this makes it safe and means that there is no risk of causing damage with the procedure.

Do you need to prepare for microsuction?

The short answer is yes. Ideally you will use ear drops for a few days before your appointment for microsuction to help soften the ear wax and make it easier to remove. But don’t worry, when you come in for an initial examination and consultation, an experienced pharmacist will check that microsuction is an appropriate treatment for you and give you the ear drops you need.

This means that when you arrive for your microsuction appointment, it should be smooth, quick and painless.

How can I tell if microsuction is right for me?

It’s important that you see a qualified professional before going ahead with microsuction for ear wax removal. If you are experiencing hearing loss and believe ear wax to be the cause, it’s essential that you have this confirmed.

One of the main signs that your hearing loss is being caused by a buildup of ear wax is a sense of fullness and slight discomfort in your ear or ears. If ear wax appears to be the problem, then microsuction will help.

After your microsuction appointment, you should notice an immediate difference in your hearing. If you are still experiencing hearing loss, then there could be another underlying cause that needs to be investigated.

There are some people who are more prone to developing excess ear wax, which can also be called impacted ear wax, and who are therefore likely to benefit from microsuction. For instance, those who wear hearing aids, earplugs or earbuds regularly are more likely to experience this issue.

Similarly, those who have a lot of hair in their ears are more likely to find that their ear wax doesn’t fall out naturally. This is also a problem that becomes more common as you get older.

It is a universally understood truth that vaccinations save lives by providing a much higher level of immunity and protection for diseases, but it is not just the lives of those who go to a pharmacy and have the inoculation who will benefit from that protection.

Certain countries have diseases that are more common and endemic than they are over here, which is part of the reason why a set of travel vaccinations is an essential part of preparing for your holiday.

There is an overlap between vaccines for travel and routine vaccinations you will receive throughout your life, and certain holiday itineraries may require more protection than others.

However, vaccination not only helps protect you but can also protect others from diseases you may contract but are asymptomatic or only have mild symptoms.

On a systemic, wide level, vaccinations can even eradicate diseases entirely, as seen by the incredible global effort to wipe out smallpox.

However, this barrier can sometimes be broken, and when it is, it can lead to some diseases previously believed to be extinct in certain regions coming back.

The Return Of Measles

In 2025, there have been a number of prominent measles outbreaks, which provide an illustrative example of the power of vaccination and why diseases can sometimes return.

War, strife and the destruction of medical infrastructure are common causes of measles outbreaks, not only in the countries affected by war but in neighbouring nations where there is frequent travel.

This is why in the late 2010s, measles cases increased across Europe, with disrupted vaccination schedules caused by military action having an effect.

Other countries which are parts of major trade routes can also increase the risks of spreading diseases, as was found with a major outbreak of measles in Morocco in 2025.

Another component was the disruption to vaccine schedules in the early 2020s, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This meant that a lot of children who would have received one or both of the scheduled doses of the MMR vaccine may not have done so.

This, alongside vaccine hesitancy, is a contributing factor towards the outbreaks seen in the United States, which have primarily been found in areas where vaccination rates are lower and thus the disease can spread more quickly.

How Do You Keep Yourself Safe Whilst Travelling?

Vaccination is by far the most important step in protecting yourself and others from infectious diseases, and checking in with your GP or local travel health clinic will provide you not only with the immunisations themselves, but also advice about the protections you need.

Everyone’s individual circumstances are unique, and depending on where you travel, whether you are at a greater risk of being in contact with people or animals with a given disease, and your immune system’s health, the advice may vary considerably.

However, vaccination compounds with safe and hygienic practices abroad, so the fewer avenues a contagion has to infect you, the smaller the chance is that you will contract a disease.

This, in turn, means that there are fewer chances you have to inadvertently infect others and cause an outbreak.

Summer holidays are on their way. However, as Brits have not been exposed to warm weather much this year, it is important everyone learns how to take care of themselves in hot temperatures, as well as book in for their travel vaccinations.

Otherwise, there is a good chance they could suffer from heatstroke, particularly if they are heading to a tropical climate.

What is heat exhaustion?

Heat exhaustion occurs when the high temperature outside causes the body to lose excessive fluids when sweating, leading to dehydration. It also leads to the loss of electrolytes, including salts, which are needed for temperature regulation.

If the body does not become replenished with fluids or electrolytes, this means it is unable to regulate its temperature and it could rise to dangerous levels.

Things that cause or exacerbate overheating include being in hot or humid conditions, particularly when you are not used to it.

Not drinking enough fluids or doing strenuous physical activity can also cause heat exhaustion, which is why it is important to look out for the signs of heat exhaustion to avoid it.

The symptoms include tiredness, dizziness, nausea, headaches, excessive sweating, clammy skin, fast breathing, fast heartbeat, high temperature, weakness, vomiting, cramps in the arms, legs or stomach, and excessive thirst.

What is heatstroke?

If anyone suffering from heat exhaustion is not cooled down, it can turn into heatstroke. This is when the body’s temperature is dangerously high at 40C or higher, and could potentially be life-threatening.

Signs that heat exhaustion has developed into heatstroke include still being unwell after 30 minutes of trying to cool down, hot skin with no sweat, flushed skin, loss of consciousness, confusion, slurred speech, seizures, delirium, feeling disoriented, lack of coordination, and shortness of breath.

Heatstroke can be very serious as it can result in serious damage to the brain, heart, kidney and muscles, and, therefore, medical attention is urgently needed.

How to prevent heat exhaustion or heatstroke

As both heat exhaustion and heatstroke can be very serious, it is important to do everything you can to prevent overheating.

This includes being conscious of your surroundings, such as the outside temperature and humidity levels. A very humid environment means you are likely to sweat more, causing a drop in electrolytes.

You should also avoid strenuous activity in the heat, as this is more likely to cause your temperature to rise and your body to sweat.

It is important to stay hydrated by drinking cold drinks and avoiding alcohol.

If possible, avoid the sun during the hottest hours of the day, between 1100 and 1500, and venture out early in the morning or later in the afternoon instead.

Wearing light-coloured, loose clothing is also sensible, as these are cooling and do not attract the sunshine.

If you or someone you know looks to be suffering from heat exhaustion or heatstroke, it is important to treat it immediately by cooling down with water or ice on the skin, fanning them with cool air, giving them a sports drink with electrolytes in, removing excess clothing, and moving them to somewhere shaded.

Prescription medicines are supplied by pharmacies based on needs and requirements, and nowhere is this more evident than in the prescription of antibiotics.

One of the most essential of essential medicines, antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections or stop them from spreading further.

As antibiotics only treat bacterial infections, their use is carefully controlled and if a doctor recommends that you take them, it is because they are considered to be the best possible treatment for a particular condition. Routine infections are not typically treated with antibiotics.

Whilst the circumstances surrounding antibiotic prescription can vary, there are some cases where antibiotics remain the main choice for treatment by doctors.

Where There Is A Risk Of Serious Complications

Some conditions have a risk of complications that make antibiotics the best course of treatment, such as pneumonia.

Commonly caused by a bacterial infection of the lungs, pneumonia is commonly treated using a complete course of antibiotics, fluids, painkillers and rest, and in many cases, a course of antibiotics may begin before test results are completed.

Similarly, the skin condition cellulitis is caused by a bacterial infection and is treated with antibiotics, with some people receiving long-term low-dose antibiotics if they are susceptible to recurring infections.

When Antibiotics Speed Up Recovery

There are some cases where antibiotics are not the only course of treatment that is effective, but they help the healing process so comprehensively that they are the first treatment that will be prescribed.

A kidney infection is a potentially serious form of urinary tract infection, and a GP may prescribe a short course of antibiotics, to be started either immediately or after two days in case the symptoms reduce by themselves.

In many cases, alternative courses of treatment or waiting out the symptoms is not an option.

When Antibiotics Are The Only Course Of Treatment

Not every condition treated with antibiotics is necessarily serious enough to risk hospitalisation, but there are some cases where the only effective treatment that will help it to clear up is antibiotics.

An example of this is acne, which is caused by the complex relationship between hormones and a typically harmless bacteria, which leads to inflammation, pus and spots.

Whilst mild acne will typically be treated with over-the-counter topical creams, moderate to severe acne can cause permanent scarring if not treated, which can take the form of either antibiotic tablets, topical solutions, or a combination of the two.

To Avoid Spreading An Infection To Other People

Some conditions treated with antibiotics are not serious but are highly contagious and therefore should be treated quickly to avoid spreading this infection to other people.

One of the most common examples of a condition like this is impetigo, a skin condition that can cause redness, sores and blisters and can spread through both skin-to-skin contact and through contact with anything touched by an infected person.

Prompt treatment with antibiotics can reduce the amount of time a person is at risk of being infectious, as well as avoid the risk of potentially serious complications for people who are more vulnerable to bacterial infections.

There’s nothing quite like a summer holiday, soaking up the sunshine in a place where warm weather is guaranteed and enjoying al fresco dining without wrapping up in a cagoule.

The majority of holidaymakers from Scotland this summer will be heading to Europe, North America or Australia, where there is no requirement for vaccinations. However, if you have booked a vacation to somewhere more remote, you need to start thinking about arranging your travel vaccinations at your local pharmacy.

Where do you need holiday jabs for?

If you are unsure if you need inoculations, you will need to look for travel advice on the government website, which lists the different requirements you will need for each destination, as well as the health risks and safety measures to consider.

For instance, if you are travelling to Mexico, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development (FCDO) has advised against all but essential travel to some states, including Zacatecas.

It also recommends travellers be up to date with their measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and diphtheria-tetanus-polio jab.

Those who are travelling to Zimbabwe, as another example, will need a yellow fever certificate, and hepatitis A, tetanus and typhoid are also recommended.

It is important to consider what type of holiday you are going on, as this will inform you of your health risks.

For instance, if you are travelling in rural areas, backpacking, camping or staying in hostels or going on a long trip, you are more likely to come into contact with a disease and, therefore, should consider getting all the recommended vaccinations.

When should I get the vaccinations?

Some vaccinations need to be administered eight weeks in advance, so anyone travelling during the summer months needs to start planning their jabs this spring. This gives the body enough time to develop some immunity, while some need a few doses spread over a certain timeframe.

Most people take their holiday between July and September, with 28.3 million Brits having headed abroad during this period in 2023. While most of these holidays were to Europe (23 million), this still means more than five million were to far-flung destinations.

Where should you get your travel jabs from?

Once you have worked out whether you need travel vaccinations and when you should start having them, you need to find out if your current jabs are up to date.

Your GP practice will have records of previous inoculations and can administer any doses that you are missing. These include jabs for polio, typhoid, cholera and hepatitis A, which are all available on the NHS.

Some pharmacies can also provide these travel jabs, relieving pressure on GP surgeries, so it is worth finding out whether your local chemist is one of them.

There are a few vaccinations that need paying for, such as tuberculosis, yellow fever, meningitis and rabies, among others, so if the FCDO recommends these, travellers will need to pay to get these done.

What about protection from malaria?

There is no jab to protect against malaria, but holidaymakers travelling to an area that has high incidences of infection will need to take antimalarial medicine.

Tropical regions, such as some parts of Asia, South America, Africa and the Pacific Islands, are more likely to have mosquitoes infected by malaria, which then pass on the virus when they bite.

Your GP can prescribe antimalarials, with the course of medication typically starting a few days before flying abroad. This needs to be continued for some weeks after returning as well.

In most cases, controlled medication is prescribed by a doctor and dispensed by a local pharmacy in a range of ways to suit their needs and lifestyle.

This can be a standard, over-the-counter measure, it can involve a home delivery service and some medications can even be prescribed directly by an independent pharmacist under the Pharmacy First Plus programme.

One of the most unique cases of a medication being supplied without a prescription, however, is naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist that is available in every community pharmacy in Scotland and can be provided by paramedics and police officers.

This is because the only time it is used is when it needs to save someone’s life.

The Risk Of Overdose

Naloxone is technically a prescription-only medication, but it would not be typically administered by the person it is prescribed for but by people close to them, pharmacists, doctors, or first responders.

It is a medication that helps to block and reverse the effects of opioid overdose, typically associated with the recreational use of drugs such as heroin, which can be easy to overdose from due to the variability of safe doses between different people.

An overdose can also be affected by how much tolerance has been built up as well as if it is taken with other sedatives such as alcohol, as well as the potential harm caused by cutting the substance with other, dangerous synthetic opioids.

Because of all of these issues, naloxone is a major part of health policy to stop drug-related deaths, as a form of harm reduction.

Reversing The Overdose

There are two main types of naloxone kit, which take the form of a nasal spray or a needle kit injected into a large muscle in the body.

It works by blocking the effects of other opioids and works most effectively within five minutes of an overdose emergency, usually determined by loss of consciousness, extreme sleepiness, slowed breathing and small pupils.

Naloxone reverses the slowed breathing within minutes and will help someone to wake up, although they will typically feel weak, dizzy, uncomfortable and feel pain in the stomach.

It should be noted that the opioid reversal effect is only temporary. Naloxone works for between 20 and 40 minutes before the overdose effect returns and another dose is necessary.

This means that it should not be seen as a cure for an opioid overdose but instead buy time to call 999 and ensure that the person goes to the hospital to be monitored and potentially treated multiple times with naloxone until it is completely out of the person’s system.

Who Can Supply Or Use Naloxone?

Naloxone is typically kept in pharmacies, in ambulances, in drug and alcohol treatment services or on the person of trained police and prison staff, as well as registered nurses. All of these professionals can supply naloxone without a prescription.

It can also be supplied as a take-home kit to people who are at risk of overdosing or would be in close proximity to people at risk of overdosing, as they would act as first responders to any overdose.

It can also be supplied to outreach workers, managers of hostels, carers, friends, family members and anyone working with or around people at risk of overdosing.