Minor Ailments

Many minor ailments can be treated at home with no need for medical attention.

If you are generally in good health, there is no reason why you can’t look after minor illnesses yourself. In most cases the illness will get better by itself and so an appointment with your GP practice or another NHS services isn’t required.

If you have any long term conditions we would generally advise you to still contact your GP practice for advice if you develop a minor illness. This doesn’t need to be with a GP. There are a wide range of health professionals in practices nowadays such as advanced nurse practitioners, physician associates or clinical pharmacists, who are well qualified to advise patients and are often specialists in managing long term conditions. Your practice will be able to advise who will be best to see.

If you need some support to look after a minor ailment yourself, there are several options to choose from which are described on this page.