Use antibiotics on your doctor’s advice

Antibiotics are essential to treat serious bacterial infections, but they are frequently being used to treat illnesses such as coughs, earache and sore throats that can get better by themselves.

• Taking antibiotics encourages harmful bacteria that live inside you to become resistant. That means that antibiotics may not work when you really need them.
• Despite the risks of antibiotic resistance, research shows that 38% of people still expect an antibiotic from a doctor’s surgery, NHS walk-in centre or ‘GP out of hours’ service when they visited with a cough, flu or a throat, ear, sinus or chest infection in 2017.

Winter essentials:

• pain relief (paracetamol)
• cough and sore throat remedies
• first aid kit
• upset stomach treatment
• rehydration treatment
• heartburn and indigestion treatment

Having winter essentials at hand  will not only save you time and help you to feel better quicker, but help save the NHS much needed resources.