Free NHS support to help you settle into a new medicine for a long-term condition over your first few weeks
If you have just been prescribed a medicine for a long-term condition for the first time, you may be able to get extra support from our pharmacist. The New Medicine Service is a free NHS scheme that helps you get to grips with a new medicine over the first few weeks.
Who can have it
The service is for people living in England who have been prescribed a new medicine for one of the following:
- Asthma
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Type 2 diabetes
- High blood pressure
- A new blood-thinning medicine
What happens
There are three conversations with the pharmacist.
- When you start your medicine. You can ask anything you like, such as possible side effects or how the medicine fits around your day.
- Two weeks later. We talk through any problems, perhaps remembering to take it or finding a tablet hard to swallow.
- A fortnight after that. A final catch-up on how you are getting on. The service then ends, but you can always come back to us with questions about your medicines.
Each appointment usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes. You can speak to us in person in our private consultation room, where you will not be overheard, or over the phone. If something needs a doctor's input, we will refer you back to your GP.
How to arrange it
Bring your new prescription in and ask our pharmacist to sign you up.