Shocking no one wants to try and have a conversation about their health by shouting over the counter to a pharmacist in a packed shop as they vaguely listen with one ear while packing medication.

You can ask for a consultation with the pharmacist, which should be in a private side room. Of course, you do have to wait a bit if they’re busy dispensing, but it’ll almost always be quicker than the wait in A&E.

Agree entirely that the real solution is to fix the GP appointments farce, which in most places is still a choice between wardialling at 8am for an urgent triage appointment or waiting weeks for a non-urgent appointment by which time you’ve recovered or deteriorated to the point of visiting A&E anyway.