PARENTS of young children with minor illnesses should take them to pharmacies rather than GPs or an A&E, a new NHS England campaign says, reports the BBC.
It follows a survey which found just 6% of parents with under-fives would go to a pharmacist first.
NHS England said visits to GPs and A&E for these "self-treatable" conditions, like stomach ache, cost 850m a year.
GP leaders said parents of children with a persistent very high temperature should still seek help from a medical expert.
NHS England's 'Stay Well Pharmacy' campaign is urging people to visit their local pharmacist first to help save the service money and free up time for the "sickest patients".
It said each year there were about 18 million GP appointments and 2.1 million visits to A&E for so-called self-treatable conditions - costing the service the equivalent of more than 220,000 hip replacements or 880,000 cataract operations.
Dr Bruce Warner, deputy chief pharmaceutical officer for NHS, said: "Pharmacists are highly trained NHS health professionals who are able to offer clinical advice and effective treatments for a wide range of minor health concerns" and "have the right clinical training" to know when to refer.
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