Important - Vaccinations: In line with NHS Highland Direction GP surgeries will no longer be responsible for the delivery of vaccinations and immunisations effective 1st March 2023. If you have any queries regarding child or adult immunisations, please contact the NHS Highland Service Delivery Centre Helpline: 0800 032 0339 open Monday to Friday 9.30am to 5.00pm. For routine immunisations you are requested to wait for an appointment letter before making contact.

Gergask Surgery

Laggan, Newtonmore, Highland, PH20 1AH

Telephone: 01528 544225

NHSH.GP55944-admin@nhs.scot

We are currently closed. In an emergency please dial 999. If this is between 6pm and 8am Mon-Fri or anytime at weekend or bank holiday and you don't feel that you can wait until we are open again please call NHS on 111 or visit NHS 111 online at 111.nhs.uk.

Pharmacy Services

What your pharmacy offers

We all know that pharmacists dispense medicines…
But they do a lot more than that. Local pharmacies offer a range of health services that you may not be aware of.

For example, pharmacies promote health and wellbeing, and provide access to stopping smoking and alcohol support services. These services could save you a trip to your GP or help you make healthy lifestyle changes.

Most of us are within a short car ride or walk of a community pharmacy. That means we all have quick and easy access to a pharmacist who’s an expert in the safe use of medicines.

Pharmacists have to be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council before they can practise. The whole pharmacy team is there to help you look after yourself and have a healthier lifestyle.

You don’t normally need an appointment; you can just pop in, pharmacists are always happy to have a quick chat.

Pharmacies can also offer anonymity, which some patients may prefer. Don’t miss out on this valuable service!


Help with your medicines

Pharmacists are trained experts in the use of medicines. They can advise you on the safe use of prescription and over-the-counter medicines.

The New Medicine Service

If you are prescribed an anticoagulant (a blood-thinning medicine) or a medicine to treat asthmachronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure for the first time, you can get extra help and advice about your medicine from your local pharmacist through a new free scheme called the New Medicine Service (NMS).


Repeat dispensing

Are you prescribed a medicine for a long-term condition? Many local pharmacies can help you with your repeat prescriptions.

If you’re regularly prescribed medicine, your pharmacist can offer repeat dispensing services, which means fewer trips to the GP just to get another prescription.

You can get a prescription from your GP for up to a year, then you can get your medicine supplied at regular intervals without having to go to your GP every time.

The pharmacist will normally chat to you every time you pick up your medicines to check how you are getting on with them and whether you are experiencing any undue problems or side effects. If so, the pharmacist can talk to your GP about this. Ask your GP about this service.

Reviewing your medicines

Many pharmacies now offer a special discussion of your medicines called a Medicines Use Review (MUR).

If you regularly collect medicines from your pharmacy, the pharmacist may ask you how you’ve been getting on with them. If you’re having problems, they can offer advice or, if necessary, advise you to see your GP.

You can ask for an MUR, or your pharmacist or GP might recommend one. They take place in a private consultation room in the pharmacy and you don’t have to pay. Afterwards, you’ll receive a written record of the consultation. A copy of it will be sent to your GP.

Collecting old medicines

If your medicine is out of date, unwanted, or some of it is left over after you have stopped taking it, don’t throw it away yourself. Instead, take it to your pharmacy to be disposed of safely.

Never throw away medicine in the bin, burn it or flush it down the toilet, as this can harm the environment.

To get the best from your medicines, take them as prescribed. It’s OK to ask your doctor about the medicines they are prescribing for you or to tell them you are no longer taking them. Unused medicines are a waste of NHS resources.


When to see your pharmacist

Pharmacies can help with a range of common conditions and minor injuries, such as aches and pains, cystitiscolds and skin rashes.

Minor health problems like these lead to around 57 million GP consultations a year. We could save ourselves and our GPs time if we went to the pharmacy instead. No appointment is needed.

If you have one of these common conditions, your pharmacist can give advice and medicines, if appropriate. These medicines won’t be on prescription, so you’ll have to pay for them. Your pharmacist can also tell you if you need to see a GP.

Learn more about treating common conditions.

Here are a few other ways your local pharmacy may be able to help:

  • the morning-after pill – this can work for up to 72 hours after sex, but the sooner you take it, the more likely it will work; lots of pharmacies sell this over the counter after a consultation with the pharmacist, and some may provide it free on the NHS
  • needle and syringe exchange services
  • pregnancy tests – most pharmacies sell pregnancy test kits

Minor ailment scheme

Some pharmacies also run a minor ailment scheme that deals with specific common health problems.

Pharmacies run schemes that deal with specific ailments, such as aches and pains, skin conditions and stomach upsets, If your pharmacy runs such a scheme, the pharmacist will be able to assess your needs, give you advice, suggest medicines if appropriate, and refer you to a GP if necessary.

When pharmacies provide medicines as part of a minor ailment scheme, you get the medicines on the NHS.

If you normally pay a prescription charge, this charge will apply here. If you’re exempt from prescription charges


Improving health and wellbeing

Pharmacy teams are increasingly supporting people to improve their health and wellbeing. They also support people to look after themselves and their families without having to go to a GP all the time.

Pharmacists and their teams offer healthy lifestyle advice that covers topics such as healthy eatingphysical activitylosing weight and stopping smoking, especially if you have diabetes, high blood pressureheart disease, are a smoker, or are overweight.

Those with serious long-term conditions, such as diabetes, will still need regular reviews with their GP or a specialist. The pharmacist can advise on when is best to see a GP.

Stop smoking services are also on offer at many pharmacies as part of local NHS Stop Smoking Services. As well as getting nicotine replacement therapy, such as nicotine gum or patches, or other stop-smoking medicines, on the NHS, you’ll meet with your pharmacist to discuss your progress.

Not all pharmacies offer these services, but you can check which services your local pharmacy provides by using the Service search. Alternatively, you can ask your local pharmacist.

There’s much more on offer at your local pharmacy than just bottles of pills.

Opening Times

  • Monday
    08:30am to 06:00pm
    Closed for Lunch
  • Tuesday
    08:30am to 06:00pm
    Closed for Lunch
  • Wednesday
    08:30am to 12:30pm
  • Thursday
    08:30am to 12:30pm
  • Friday
    08:30am to 06:00pm
    extended hours available once a month on Friday evenings for those who work outwith the area & cannot manage to attend in usual hours.
  • Saturday
    CLOSED
  • Sunday
    CLOSED
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