Pharmacies Offer UTI Treatment Service

Adult women can now get help for simple urine infections at their local pharmacy.

A new service is being rolled out will allow community pharmacies to manage and treat uncomplicated lower Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) in women aged 16-64.

Paul Fieldhouse, Clinical Director of Pharmacy and Medicines Optimisation, from North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) said: “This is great news for the local community in Cumbria. More than 75,000 women in the North East and North Cumbria, aged between 16-64, went to their GP practice with a UTI in the last six months. Now anyone who thinks they might have a UTI can skip the GP queue and go directly to a local pharmacy that is involved in providing this service.”

A UTI is an infection of any part of the urinary tract. UTIs are the most common bacterial infection in humans, mainly presenting in women, with 40% of women expected to suffer from one during their lifetime.

Symptoms of a UTI include:

• Burning or stinging sensation on passing urine
• Needing to pass urine frequently or urgently
• Cloudy urine
• Passing excessive or large quantities of urine

Around 15% (4.8 million) of women in the UK suffer from a UTI each year, therefore it is expected if those women use this service instead, it has the potential to significantly reduce demand on other services such as GPs, NHS 111 and urgent and emergency care centres.

The local pharmacies that are involved are:

Carlisle

• Dalston Pharmacy - Bank St (Formerly Sawyers), 6-8 Bank Street, Carlisle, CA3 8EU
• Dalston Pharmacy, Arnside Hse, Sycamore Lane, Parklands Village, Carlisle, CA1 3SR
• Dalston Pharmacy, 7 Central Avenue, Harraby, Carlisle CA1 3QB

Brampton

• Brampton Pharmacy, Market Place, Brampton CA8 1RW

Penrith

• Joseph Cowper Ltd, 50 King Street, Penrith CA11 7AY
• Boots, Unit 3, Angel Square Penrith, CA11 7BT

How to access the service:

To access the service, please call Reception on 01228 588121 where a member of the team will discuss your symptoms and, if appropriate, refer you to a local community pharmacy for a personal consultation.

You will have a choice over which pharmacy you are referred to. 

Please note, we can only refer those who are registered patients of Carlisle Healthcare. If you are not registered with us, please contact your own GP surgery or the Pharmacy directly.