An opinion piece in the Guardian has found a problem…
Nell Frizzell wrote a heartfelt opinion piece in the Guardian on 29.08.24 and it highlighted a problem and a conundrum.
The general public have been advised for years to take various problems to the local Pharmacy rather than bother their GP, who may well not be able to see you for a couple of weeks anyway unless you are an emergency.
“After all, pharmacists can often prescribe things quicker than a doctor, have a better sense of their stock.”
Except…
She described the result when she googled for a Pharmacy on a weekend night and found the closest one was 10 miles away. And closed on a Saturday night. Nell recounts how she had to trawl through three separate pharmacies the previous year collecting enough antibiotics to fill the prescription she had been given by her GP for just one course. So, when she asks the question Desperately need something for a headache or diarrhoea? And she comes back with the quip Good luck trying to find a pharmacy, we can understand why.
She says that, despite us being urged to use our local Pharmacy nearly 1,000 have closed since 2017, and the National Pharmacy Association revealed that ‘nearly 50% more pharmacies had closed in England in the first four months of 2024 than in the same period in 2023’ due to funding cuts of up to 40%.
So, if the general public can’t get an appointment with their GP, and they haven’t got a Pharmacy near and they need something for hay fever, for a cold, for diarrhoea, for a sprained ankle or a headache, what do they do, specially late at night on a weekend?
I think some people might know what I am going to suggest.
- Diarrhoea – drink black tea, or keep some Agrimony loose leaves handy and make tea from that. Steep 10 minutes. Useful if you have a tendency to diarrhoea or loose stools in general.
- Vomiting – with a general tummy bug you can take activated charcoal capsules. I always have some in my first aid box and they are easily available online. With young kids I get them to eat charcoal crackers (they are sold as an upmarket cracker for cheese).
- Nausea – keep fresh ginger root in for cooking, and when someone feels nauseous you can make fresh ginger tea by grating a couple of cms of ginger into a cup and steep in boiled water for 10 mins. Sip slowly.
- Headache – if you have a Rosemary bush in your garden you are in luck. Make some Rosemary leaf tea (steep 10 mins) and drink slowly, breathe in the steam deeply and relax.
- Colds and flu – ditto above. Add in some fresh lemon and thyme and a crushed clove of garlic (for the brave). Also use some thyme ‘tea’ as a compress on the chest or throat – this is very effective.
- Hay fever – if you are prone to hayfever, buy in some nettle leaves and elderflowers from places like Baldwins.co.uk and start drinking this tea every day early in the season. I would just like to say, if you have Hedge Woundwort in your garden (a weed) this works even better, and quicker.
- Earache – a warm compress with heated onion and lavender EO.
- Ankle sprain – keep some Wintergreen EO in your first aid box (it is not expensive) and soak the foot in a water bath with some added.
- Buy Julie-Bruton’s book Kitchen Remedies. You would be surprised what you can do for yourself…
If you would like to explore some of these self-help remedies with me, and join an hour’s live Q&A once a month, join my HerbWorks Membership for £9.99 a month.
