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At the pharmacy and Pharmacy First

Get medicine and advice from a pharmacist without seeing a GP.

Hi, could I have a word with the pharmacist, please?

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All 15 phrases

Asking for help3

  1. Could I have a word with the pharmacist?Asks for the qualified pharmacist rather than the counter assistant.
  2. Who's it for?The assistant's first question.
  3. Are you taking anything else at the moment?Asks about other medication, to avoid interactions.

Buying medicine6

  1. Is there anything you can give me for a sore throat?The natural way to ask for an over-the-counter remedy.
  2. Have you got anything stronger?Common request.
  3. Have you got the own-brand ones?Supermarket or pharmacy own-brand paracetamol and ibuprofen have the same active ingredient as big brands, for much less.
  4. I'll just get some Lemsip and go to bedLemsip is a hot lemon cold-and-flu drink.
  5. It's behind the counter, so you'll need to askSome medicines are pharmacy-only.
  6. I can only sell you two packsParacetamol and some other painkillers have legal pack-size limits, and shops limit how many packs you can buy at once.

Pharmacy First and advice4

  1. Can I be seen under Pharmacy First?In England, pharmacists can treat seven common illnesses, such as sore throat and earache, without you seeing a GP.
  2. Would you like to pop into the consultation room?A private room for a confidential chat.
  3. That's one for your GP, I'm afraidThe pharmacist thinks you need a doctor.
  4. Can I get the morning-after pill here?Pharmacies supply emergency contraception, and in England it's been made free at participating pharmacies.

Taking it safely2

  1. No more than eight in twenty-four hoursStandard adult paracetamol label instruction (one or two 500mg tablets per dose, at least four hours apart).
  2. Take it with foodCommon instruction, especially for ibuprofen.
Check yourself15 questions

Question 1 of 15

'The chemist's' means:

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Moments
1 of 15 phrases have a clip
Sources
Picked by Talk, CC BY-SA 4.0
Phrases
Picked by Talk.
How Talk picked them
Part of Talk's themed British life packs. Talk wrote each phrase with what it really means, when to say it, what not to say instead and one quiz question. A phrase gets a moment only if Talk's spoken videos say it with the same meaning. One review picked each moment, and a second tried to reject it. This pack holds 15 phrases.
Licence
Talk shares this list under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Meanings and examples
Written by Talk in plain English.
Dictionary details
From Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Princeton WordNet, used under the WordNet licence. WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
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