Out-of-hours medicines

If you already have a prescription and urgently need the medicines, try the following steps:

• If your local pharmacy is closed, use the NHS pharmacy service search to find other nearby pharmacies and their opening hours. Some are open until midnight or even later, even on public holidays.
• If you would prefer to speak to someone first, call NHS 111 free of charge by dialling 111 on your mobile or landline. The person you speak to will also be able to look up an out-of-hours pharmacy or another NHS service in your area.
• You can also use the service search to find your nearest NHS walk-in centre. These can sometimes dispense medicines after a consultation.
• For very urgent cases, you could try calling your GP practice. They should have details of their out-of-hours service recorded on their answering machines. This is the service your GP runs outside their usual opening hours and on public holidays, and should not be used routinely. You can use the NHS GP service finder to find your GP's phone number.
• If it's a real emergency and you've tried all of the above unsuccessfully, use the service search to find your nearest accident and emergency (A&E) unit.

If you need non-prescription medicines such as paracetamol or an antacid and you can't find an open pharmacy, the following places may stock a basic range of over-the-counter medicines. They also often have longer opening hours than high-street pharmacies.

• supermarkets
• newsagents
• petrol stations

If you don't have a prescription

If you run out of prescription medicines and you don't have a prescription with you, you may be able to get an emergency supply from a pharmacy without a prescription. It's a good idea to take your medicine's prescription packaging with you, if you have it.

Pharmacies

You'll be interviewed by the pharmacist to find out:

• whether there is an immediate need for the medicine
• whether you might be able to get a prescription without too much delay
• whether the medicine has been prescribed by a prescriber
• what dose of the medicine would be appropriate for you to take

The pharmacist will need to be assured of all these things before they supply a prescription-only medicine without a prescription in an emergency.

If the pharmacist is not satisfied that the medicine and dose is appropriate for you, they may not supply the medicine.

A charge will be made for the medicines supplied and for the service provided. This may vary between pharmacies.

Find a local pharmacy, including its opening hours.

GPs and walk-in centres

If you run out of medicines while you're away from home, you may be able to have a consultation with a local GP and get a prescription for a limited supply of medicines.

If you're given a prescription, you'll still need to find a pharmacy that's open.

You can also go to an NHS walk-in centre. They may be able to organise a GP consultation. In some cases, they can give you medicine after you've seen a nurse.

Some walk-in centres are open from early morning to late evening seven days a week, 365 days a year.