Winter is now firmly in the air. There’s frost on the ground; the Christmas lights are up; and every other person seems to either have or be recovering from a cough, cold or seasonal bug. It’s one of the busiest times of the year for local GP surgeries and hospitals like Darent Valley. Their waiting rooms are often full to bursting at this time with patients who have been brought low by various minor ailments and conditions.

It doesn’t have to be this way though. Some recent research undertaken by IMS Health found that each year around 20% of all GP consultations involve minor ailments which patients could treat themselves. They reckon that GPs spend at least an hour each day dealing with conditions that patients could be self-treating. Most patients it seems generally only wait between four and seven days before going to their GP about a minor ailment, which is earlier than they need to. Not only does this place a lot of unnecessary pressure on frontline NHS services, it also costs a lot of money. The average annual bill for each general practice in Dartford for instance is around £250,000.

Until fairly recently the NHS hasn’t done much to persuade patients to self-treat or use other sources of information and advice. Many doctors have been reluctant to encourage patients to take responsibility for their own health and patients are still hesitant about going to their pharmacist for help. And yet many medicines that used to be prescription only are now available over the counter from your local pharmacist. If you’re suffering from pain, indigestion or thrush for example then your pharmacist should definitely be your first port of call. So if you do pick up a minor complaint over the busy Christmas and New Year period why not give your pharmacist a try first of all instead of heading off to your doctor.