Realising you have a problem with alcohol is the first big step to getting help.

You may need help if:

• you often feel the need to have a drink
• you get into trouble because of your drinking
• other people warn you about how much you're drinking
• you think your drinking is causing you problems

Getting the right support can be crucial to maintaining control in the future. Only relying on family, friends or carers for this often is not enough.

Ask our Pharmacist about what longer term support is available in your area. Self-help or mutual aid groups (groups such as AA or SMART Recovery groups) are accessible in most areas.

A pharmacist is another health expert you can turn to for asthma advice and support and you usually don't need an appointment. As well as your GP or asthma nurse, your local pharmacist is another highly trained healthcare professional who can answer questions about your asthma. If you have any concerns about your asthma, you can just walk into our pharmacy and ask to see the pharmacist.

This is useful because:

• you don't need an appointment
• our pharmacy are open outside GP surgery hours
• our pharmacy have a private consultation room
• you can ask about free prescription collection services, peak flow checks, stop smoking and losing weight advice.

Ask the pharmacist how to get the best from your asthma medicines. You can ask your pharmacist about the asthma medicines you've been prescribed. This is useful if you have concerns about things like side effects, using your inhaler, or your inhaler not working properly.
You can also ask about any over-the-counter medicines you're taking to help your asthma, such as anti-histamines for hay fever.

Check your blood pressure

The only way of knowing whether you have high blood pressure is to have a blood pressure test.

All adults over 40 are advised to have their blood pressure checked at least every 5 years. Getting this done is easy and could save your life.

You can get your blood pressure tested at a number of places, including:

• at your GP surgery
• at our pharmacy
• as part of your NHS Health Check
• in some workplaces

You can also check your blood pressure yourself with a home blood pressure monitor.

Body composition is a simple test that measures your body mass index, body fat, skeletal muscle percentages and waist circumference. A body composition test is one way to determine if your weight is healthy for your height since being overweight can strain your heart and lead to serious health problems.

A body composition test is recommended for everyone to for better insight into their health. Body composition testing is available at our Pharmacy for patients 18 and over.

At Shelf Pharmacy we offer a full dispensing and free delivery service to all local patients (within 5 miles). Our services are tailored to meet the individual needs of all patients to ensure you receive the service you require.

We provide excellent support and are able to offer a full range of weekly and monthly Monitored Dosage Systems as well as traditional boxes and bottles. We also provide comprehensive MAR (Medicines Administration Record) charts if required and can deliver monthly and interim medications to your home.

We are able to offer day-to-day advice and support over the telephone. We are also able to offer a comprehensive Medicines Use Review (so that you know why you are taking your medicines and the best way to take them). This is an NHS service and can be undertaken in your own home should you be housebound.

If you require more information please email customerservice@shelfpharmacy.co.uk or telephone us on 01274 676004

Community Pharmacy Consultation Service (CPCS)

We offer a wide range of the latest dental care products and accessories to help keep your gums and teeth in tip top condition.   Please call or visit.

Our pharmacy is able to receive prescriptions electronically from your surgery shortly after issue, hence providing a faster and more efficient service.

No appointments needed, easily accessible location and just a quick consultation, we ensure a hassle free service to all our patients. Simply walk in and ask to speak to our friendly and professional pharmacist about the morning after pill.

Our pharmacist will need to see the person that the emergency contraception is intended for, and will need to ask a few questions regarding the patients’ medical history. This is done in the privacy of our consultation room and everything discussed is in complete confidence. The sooner you come to our pharmacy to take the morning after pill, the greater the chances of avoiding pregnancy.

If the Pharmacist feels like Levonelle One Step is not suitable for you, they will not give you the morning after pill, but advise you to see your health care professional.

We are one of the few pharmacies that are able to provide the morning after pill free of charge to patients who are aged 24 and under, and who meet the NHS criteria. Alternatively, the pill can be purchased privately from our pharmacy in Camden.

About Emergency Contraception (Levonelle One Step) -
When it comes to sex, even if you’ve taken precautions, sometimes things don’t quite go to plan. Accidents happen with contraception and things go wrong all the time. You may even just be worried that your contraceptive pill hasn’t worked. If you’ve had unprotected sex or you’re worried about contraception failure, here is some of the information you need to know about Levonelle One Step -

- Levonelle One Step is an emergency contraceptive that can be used within 72 hours (3 days) of unprotected sex or if your contraceptive method has failed.
- There is one white tablet in the pack and it is most effective when taken within the first 12 hours
- The tablet contains a hormone called Levonorgestrel.
- Levonelle One Step is thought to work by stopping your ovaries from releasing an egg or by preventing sperm from fertilising any egg that may have already been released
- If you are over 16 you can get Levonelle One Step over the counter at our Pharmacy
- If you are under 16 you cannot buy Levonelle One Step at the Pharmacy, you need to visit your GP or a Walk-In centre
- Levonelle One Step works to prevent a pregnancy becoming established, it does not work if you are already pregnant
- You should only use Levonelle One Step in emergencies, not as a regular form of contraception

Please note, there are other emergency contraceptive options available through your doctor or at a Walk-In centre.

If you do have any questions or require any further information please do not hesitate to contact us.

The emergency contraceptive pill (morning after pill) – there are two types, Levonelle or ellaOne. You can get both Levonelle and ellaOne free of charge from: 

• contraception clinics
• most sexual health or genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics
• most NHS walk-in centres and minor injuries units 
• most GP surgeries
• some hospital accident and emergency (A&E) departments 

After consultation with a pharmacist you can buy emergency contraception from our pharmacy. Levonelle can be taken within 72 hours (three days) of having unprotected sex, but it's most effective if taken within 12 hours of having unprotected sex. Prices vary, but it's likely to cost around £25. You need to be 16 or over to buy Levonelle. Girls under 16 can get Levonelle, but only with a prescription from their doctor.

ellaOne can be taken within 120 hours (five days) of having unprotected sex, but it's most effective if taken as soon as possible after having unprotected sex. Prices vary, but it's likely to cost around £35. ellaOne can be sold to under 16s without a prescription.

Make life easier for yourself and let us order your prescription on your behalf. Simply let us know what repeat medicines you need, a few days before they run out and we will arrange to collect it from your Doctor's surgery. 

Headlice and nits are very common in young children. They don’t have anything to do with dirty hair and are usually picked up from head-to-head contact.

Headlice are small insects, up to 3mm long and can be difficult to spot. Head lice eggs (nits) are yellow, brown or white (empty shells) and are attacked to the hair. Head lice can make your head feel itchy or like something is moving in your hair. The only way to be sure someone has head lice is by finding live lice or eggs. You can do this by combing their hair with a special fine-toothed comb. Our Pharmacist can advise you on the best course of treatment and prevention.

The pharmacist and our trained staff are available for advice on all medicines and minor ailments. We can be contacted on 01274 676004 and will be happy to assist you.

Lipotrim is a reliable, maximum rate weight loss programme that was introduced into pharmacies in 2000 after more than 13 years in GP surgeries.
We at Shelf Pharmacy are ideally placed to help you manage your weight as we already provide many health services to customers, including stop smoking services, blood pressure and cholesterol measurements and general advice on nutrition and healthy living. We also know when a weight problem can be managed in the pharmacy and when there is a medical problem that needs co-operation with the doctor.

If you are overweight and are serious about losing weight, the Lipotrim Pharmacy Programme could help you reach your goal, knowing you have a highly trained healthcare professional on hand for information, advice and encouragement.

If you are overweight and are serious about losing weight, the Lipotrim Pharmacy Programme could help you reach your goal, knowing you have a highly trained healthcare professional on hand for information, advice and encouragement.

You need to be overweight and serious about losing it .

There are a few medical restrictions so you will need to fill out a medical screening form at the pharmacy to make sure the programme is suitable for you. If you are accepted for the programme, you will have to attend the pharmacy weekly for weight measurements and, where possible at the pharmacy, a urine test to measure ketones. 

An essential short video/DVD and written materials are available to assist you on the programme.

The programme involves using Lipotrim Total Food Replacement formulas in place of your regular meals and weekly visits to your pharmacy to monitor your progress. Each visit, our pharmacist will measure your weight, carry out a urine test (where possible) to measure ketones to check your compliance and the adequacy of your fluid intake and give you the support and encouragement you need to stick to the programme. You will also be using the pharmacy visits to pick up your weekly supply of Lipotrim foods.

Once you reach your desired weight or are ready to stop, our pharmacy will help you switch back to eating ordinary food and introduce you to Lipotrim Maintenance products to help you maintain your new weight.

This programme is pharmacy-based and run by the pharmacist. It is not available for over the counter sale or mail order.

Every year many hundreds of travellers from the UK catch malaria and in tens of cases it is fatal. Symptoms can start rapidly. The correct anti-malarial medication is essential. We offer a Private Malaria Prevention Service. After a confidential assessment by a trained Pharmacist, the correct anti-malarial medication is supplied and appropriate advice given to the patient. 

At Shelf Pharmacy we can provide an NHS Service called a Medicines Use Review in which you have a private face-to-face consultation, which is free of charge with our pharmacist.

If you are experiencing side-effects or are unsure of exactly what your medicines are for or the best time to take them, this is an ideal opportunity to ask the expert advice of our pharmacist.

The service is designed so that you can get the best from your medicines.

We have a private consultation room in which you can sit down and have a chat about any problems you are experiencing or questions you have with regards to your medicines.

Please contact customerservice@shelfpharmacy.co.uk or telephone 01274 676004 for further details.

It is important that you take the right dose of your prescribed medicines at the right time each day to get the most from your medicines to control your condition(s) as much as possible. This can sometimes be difficult if you take more than one medicine. One way in which this can be made easier is for your medicines to be supplied in a Monitored Dosage System, which provides you with a separate compartment for each dosage time of the day.

A monitored dosage system (MDS) is a medication storage device designed to simplify the administration of solid oral dose medication, especially for those on multiple medications. It aims to address the issues of difficulty accessing medication due to sight impairment or other disability and/or forgetfulness.

MDS devices are usually a variation on the design of a box or a blister pack, divided into days of the week with several compartments per day to allow for the different timing of doses such as breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime.

 Our Pharmacist can help identify which patients this type of system would be suitable for.

MDS may be suitable for patients in the following circumstances:

• You struggle to organise medications and find it difficult to remember to take them at the correct time each day
• You have a large number of medications to take each day
• You find it difficult to remove medication from its packaging
• You have a carer who helps you to ensure you take your medicines correctly.
  

Ask a member of our pharmacy team about whether this service would benefit you or whether there is another course of action, which may be of more help.

Flu vaccination is available every year on the NHS to help protect adults and children at risk of flu and its complications. Flu can be unpleasant, but if you are otherwise healthy it will usually clear up on its own within a week. Shelf Pharmacy provides free flu vaccines as part of the NHS service to; adults 65 and over, people with certain medical conditions (including children in at-risk groups from 6 months of age), pregnant women, Speak to the pharmacy team for more details.

When you are prescribed a new medicine by your doctor our pharmacists can offer support and advice to ensure you take the new medication as prescribed without suffering any unwanted side effects or explain any further questions you may have. We usually do this by keeping in contact with you during the first 4 weeks of your new medicine being prescribed.

The service is only available for people living in England, and only for those who have been prescribed a new medicine for the conditions listed:

• asthma
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• type 2 diabeasthmates
• high blood pressure
• people who have been given a new blood-thinning medicine

The NMS can help:

• improve your adherence (taking your medicines correctly) which will generally lead to better health outcomes
• increase your engagement with your condition and medicines, supporting you to make decisions about your treatment and self-management
• reduce medicines wastage
• reduce hospital admissions due to adverse events from medicines

At Shelf Pharmacy we offer a full dispensing service to local (within 5 miles) Nursing and Residential homes. Our services are tailored to meet the individual needs of all your patients to ensure you receive the service you require.

We provide excellent support and are able to offer a full range of weekly and monthly Monitored Dosage Systems as well as traditional boxes and bottles. We also provide comprehensive MAR (Medicines Administration Record) charts if required and can deliver monthly and interim medications to the home.

We are able to deliver a full range of training courses aimed at both Carers and Nurses, which can be arranged to meet your home's needs.

We are able to offer day-to-day pharmaceutical advice and support over the telephone. We can also offer structured audit visits which are carried out in accordance to guidelines set out by your Local Authority or Primary Care Trust.

If you require more information please email customerservice@shelfpharmacy.co.uk or telephone us on 01274 676004

We keep records of all your prescriptions dispensed by us as well as records of other services we provide to you. This helps us check for possible problems, such as reactions between medicines and will help us deal with any queries you may have.  Our computer allows us to keep these records. We are registered with The Information Commissioners Office and comply with the Data Protection Act and the NHS code of practice on confidentiality. If you want to discuss the records we keep, please ask to speak to a member of staff or the pharmacist.

Proctosedyl Suppositories and Ointment prescription strength treatment without the need to see your GP

We are able to dispense and deliver your Private Prescriptions. Please call 01274 676004 to get a competitive quotation.

At Shelf Pharmacy we offer a full ostomy prescription supply service (as an agent for Ostomed ). Because of the individuality and diverse nature of ostomy and catheter products we order the stock specifically for you and these prescriptions require 24 hours to be dispensed.

This gives the pharmacy time to order the exact products you require with all the ostomy products being supplied discreetly with free disposal bags and soft wipes where appropriate.

If you would like any more information about this service, please email customerservice@shelfpharmacy.co.uk or telephone us on 01274 676004

The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats we have ever faced, killing more than 8 million people a year around the world. According to the NHS, in the UK alone, smoking kills over 80,000 people every year and a further 500,000 people are admitted into hospital as a direct result of smoking.

Smoking has been linked to countless conditions from depression, infertility and asthma, to the more serious conditions such as lung cancer, emphysema and heart disease. It’s really not surprising that this is the case when you consider how many harmful substances there are in a cigarette. They have thousands of different chemicals, some of which are carcinogenic (cancer causing), and examples of others being acetone (used as nail polish remover), lead and cadmium (a highly toxic metal.)

The truth of the matter is, we all know how bad smoking is for our health, and a majority of smokers will say that they want to quit but giving up can be hard. Especially without the right help and support. That’s where our friendly and professional staff come in!

There is now more support than ever before, not just in the form of information, but also products designed to reduce cravings and to fight off any of the horrible withdrawal symptoms. One of the developments has been the introduction of Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT.) There are a variety of NRT products available:

• Patches
• Gum
• Inhalators
• Mouth Sprays
• Nasal Sprays
• Tablets
• Lozenges

Smoking is addictive because of the nicotine in cigarettes. That is why it is hard to quit. By starting one or even a combination of the above therapies, they will give a smoker a dose of nicotine in their blood. This reduces the nicotine withdrawal symptoms and cravings, whilst they break away from the psychological habit of smoking.

Our staff can advise you on the best way to kick your smoking habit. By coming in to our store our trained pharmacist will provide you with a free consultation, asking you questions such as how many cigarettes you smoke in a day and what triggers the need for a cigarette etc. By determining your ‘level of nicotine addiction’ the pharmacist will then be able to offer their advice on what they think would work best for you.

The pharmacist may even offer advice in other forms, for example, letting you know about any local support groups, advising you to take up a hobby or even suggesting a routine to start you off.

The benefit of having this support is that we are there 7 days a week whenever you need help, or even just a friendly professional to speak with. It is a proven fact that if you receive support while trying to stop smoking your chance for success is greatly increased.

We can provide a supervised consumption service, usually in the private consultation room in the pharmacy.

We can offer weight management help.  Pharmacists are ideally placed to help you manage your weight as they already provide many health services to customers, including stop smoking services, blood pressure and cholesterol measurements and general advice on nutrition and healthy living. Pharmacists also know when a weight problem can be managed in the pharmacy and when there is a medical problem that needs co-operation with the doctor.

Ask us for advice on how to get started.