What happens after you submit your assessment

The short version

Once your online form arrives in our clinical system, a pharmacist reviews it — usually within 1-2 hours during opening hours. If they need to speak to you, they'll phone you or send you a secure accuRx video link by text message. After the consultation, the pharmacist decides whether NHS treatment is appropriate. If it is, your medicine is dispatched or made ready to collect, and your GP is notified through GP Connect. The whole process is free under the NHS.

Step by step — from "submit" to follow-up

This is the typical journey. Real timings depend on when you submit and how busy the pharmacy is on the day.

1. Instant

   You submit the assessment

   The Digital Gateway form encrypts your answers and sends them straight to our secure clinical system (PharmOutcomes). You'll see an on-screen confirmation. Nothing else is needed from you at this point — please don't repeat-submit.

2. Within 1-2 hours (opening hours)

   A pharmacist reviews your record

   Your record is queued for clinical review. The pharmacist reads your symptoms, eligibility answers, current medicines and allergies, and your NHS summary care record where available. If you submit outside opening hours, your form is reviewed when we next open.

3. Same session

   The pharmacist contacts you — if needed

   If clarification or a clinical conversation is needed, the pharmacist will phone the number you provided, or send an accuRx video link by SMS (especially for sore throat, where a quick look at the back of the throat helps). For simpler cases, no call is needed and you'll get a written outcome instead.

4. During the call (~5-10 min)

   Clinical decision

   The pharmacist makes one of three decisions: (a) NHS treatment is appropriate under the pathway, (b) self-care advice alone is the right answer, or (c) your case falls outside Pharmacy First and needs onward referral to your GP, NHS 111, or A&E. They'll explain the reasoning.

5. Same day where possible

   Medicine dispatched or ready to collect

   If treatment is supplied, you choose how to receive it: Leeds same-day delivery for LS postcodes, Royal Mail Tracked anywhere in England (usually next-day), or collection in person from our Woodsley Road counter. There's no charge.

6. Immediate

   Your GP is notified

   A consultation summary is sent to your registered GP electronically through NHS GP Connect. Your GP record stays joined-up so anyone treating you next sees what happened here.

7. Pathway-specific

   Follow-up if you need us

   You'll be told when to check back in (different conditions have different review points). If symptoms get worse, don't improve, or new red-flag symptoms appear, message us through accuRx, call the pharmacy, or — if it's urgent — contact NHS 111 or 999.

The pharmacist call — what to expect

If the pharmacist phones you, the call usually lasts 5-10 minutes. It's a clinical consultation, not a sales call — please pick up if you can, and find a quiet spot where you can talk privately.

What to have ready

• A list of any other medicines you're taking — prescription, over-the-counter, herbal, or supplements. The boxes themselves are ideal if they're nearby.
• Any known drug allergies and what happened when you had a reaction.
• Your date of birth and full postcode — used to confirm your identity against the record on file.
• A pen and paper, or your phone notes app, in case you want to jot down advice.

How the pharmacist verifies your identity

Before any clinical detail is shared, the pharmacist will ask you to confirm at least two of: your full name, date of birth, address or postcode, and the name of your GP. This protects your medical information — please don't be offended; it's the same check a GP receptionist would do.

If you miss the call

The pharmacist will try again later in the same session and, if they still can't reach you, leave a brief voicemail (if your number accepts one) and a follow-up SMS. You can also call us back on 0113 244 1551 and quote your name and date of birth — the team will route you straight back to the pharmacist on duty.

If we send you an accuRx video link

For some pathways — particularly sore throat — a quick look is genuinely useful, so the pharmacist may text you a video link instead of a phone call.

What accuRx is

accuRx is an NHS-approved video consultation tool used by thousands of GP surgeries and pharmacies across England. It's secure, encrypted, and designed for healthcare — your call isn't recorded by us, and the link expires after use.

How it works on your phone

• You'll get an SMS from the pharmacy with a one-tap link.
• Tap the link — the video call opens in your phone's browser. There's no app to install and no account to create.
• Allow camera and microphone access when your phone asks — this is required for video to work.
• The pharmacist's video appears, and yours shows alongside.

What you'll need

• Good light on your face — natural daylight near a window is ideal.
• A quiet room where you won't be interrupted.
• For sore throat: a small torch if you have one (your phone torch works too — a family member can hold it while you open your mouth).
• Your phone held at arm's length, in landscape or portrait — whichever feels steadier.

If the SMS doesn't arrive

Check your signal and check the phone number you gave matches your current mobile. If after 15 minutes nothing has arrived, call 0113 244 1551 — we can resend the link, or switch to a phone consultation instead. Some networks delay SMS to numbers that haven't received text from a healthcare service before; this usually clears on retry.

If video isn't right for you

Tell the pharmacist on the call or when you call back. Video is offered for clinical usefulness, not as a hurdle — if a phone call works better for you (poor signal, no camera, visual impairment, anxiety on camera), we'll do that instead.

Getting your medicine

If the pharmacist decides NHS treatment is appropriate, you choose how to receive it. There's no prescription charge for medicine supplied under Pharmacy First — even if you'd usually pay for an NHS prescription.

For full delivery cut-off times, area coverage, and what happens if you're not in, see our Prescriptions & Deliveries page.

How your GP is notified

NHS Pharmacy First is part of joined-up NHS care — what happens here doesn't sit in a silo.

What gets sent

• A consultation summary: the date, the pathway used (e.g. sinusitis, sore throat, UTI), the clinical decision, and any safety-netting advice given.
• The name and quantity of any medicine supplied, together with the supplying pharmacist's name and GPhC number.
• Anything the pharmacist thinks the GP should know — for example, if a referral back was advised.

When it's sent

Immediately at the end of the consultation, electronically, through NHS GP Connect — the same NHS messaging spine your GP surgery uses to receive hospital letters and out-of-hours notes. Your GP usually sees it the next working day in their workflow.

What you can see

You can request a copy of your consultation record from us at any time. If you use the NHS App, the medication supplied may also appear there once your GP practice has processed the incoming message.

Follow-up — when to come back

Most Pharmacy First conditions are short-term and improve quickly with the right treatment. The pharmacist will give you condition-specific safety-netting advice on the call; the table below is a general guide.

• UTI — if symptoms haven't started easing within 48 hours of starting treatment, contact us.
• Sore throat — most settle within 3-5 days. Contact us sooner if you can't swallow fluids, develop a high fever, or feel rapidly worse.
• Sinusitis — review at around 7 days if not improving, sooner if severe one-sided facial pain, swelling around the eye, or vision changes appear.
• Impetigo / infected insect bite — improvement expected within 5-7 days; come back sooner if spreading, fever, or red streaks.
• Shingles — review if pain becomes severe, the rash spreads to the eye or forehead, or new patches appear after a week.

How to get back in touch

The simplest way is to reply to the accuRx SMS you received — it threads straight back to the team. You can also call 0113 244 1551 or walk in during opening hours.

One exception — ear infections (otitis media)

The acute otitis media pathway is the one Pharmacy First condition where we cannot complete the assessment remotely. The pharmacist needs to look inside the ear with an otoscope — a small lighted instrument — to see the eardrum and confirm what's going on. That's not something a phone or video call can do safely.

If you submit the assessment for ear pain and the pharmacist needs to examine you, they'll invite you in to the consultation room at Woodsley Road. The examination takes a couple of minutes, and the rest of the consultation runs as normal. Everything else — the NHS supply, the GP notification, the no-charge promise — works the same way.

If you can't get in (mobility, distance, work) the pharmacist will refer you to your GP or NHS 111 instead, so you're not stuck.

About this service at Hyde Park Pharmacy

Hyde Park Pharmacy is a community pharmacy in central Leeds, registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (premises 9011727), and a contractor of the NHS England Pharmacy First service. Our superintendent pharmacist is Shoyab Umarji (GPhC #2065619, Independent Prescriber). We follow the NHS England Pharmacy First service specification and the relevant NICE guidance for each condition pathway.

For an overview of all seven Pharmacy First pathways we cover — sore throat, sinusitis, otitis media, impetigo, infected insect bites, shingles, and UTI — see our main Pharmacy First page.