This service allows appropriately trained pharmacists to provide care for patients with:
Eczema is a common skin condition that makes your skin becomes dry, itchy and easily irritated.
It affects both children and adults. Eczema is also known as atopic eczema, atopic dermatitis and allergic eczema. It often happens in people who have allergies and can also run in families.
The most common type of eczema involves areas of red, dry, itchy skin. Eczema often affects the skin:
Eczema symptoms tend to come and go. When you have symptoms, this is known as an ‘eczema flare'.
Symptoms can be triggered by temperature, stress and skin irritants. Applying moisturiser regularly helps protect your skin.
Your eligibility for community pharmacist management of eczema will depend on your age, severity and location of the affected area, and any other relevant medications or medical conditions, and you must have been previously diagnosed with eczema by a medical practitioner (like a general practitioner or dermatologist).
Visit healthdirect for more information on eczema.
Impetigo is a very common skin infection that causes skin sores and blisters. It is caused by staphylococcus or streptococcus bacteria.
Impetigo usually affects young children, as the infection can easily spread in places such as schools and childcare centres — this is why it is sometimes called ‘school sores’.
Impetigo causes sores on the skin. These blisters can grow quickly and then burst, leaving a moist area with a brown crust at the edge. The blisters can be large (several centimetres across) and itchy. Sometimes, the sores have a thick, soft, yellow crust with a moist red area underneath.
The sores appear 1 to 3 days after exposure to the infection. They are contagious as long as there is fluid weeping from them. They are no longer contagious when they have scabbed over or 24 hours after starting antibiotic treatment.
Other symptoms may include a fever, swollen lymph nodes (glands) or feeling generally unwell.
Impetigo is usually treated with antibiotics in the form of a cream, ointment, tablets or syrup, depending on the severity of the condition.
Your eligibility for community pharmacist management of impetigo will depend on your age, severity and location of the sores, and any other relevant medications or medical conditions.
Visit healthdirect for more information on impetigo.
Shingles is an infection that causes a painful, blistering rash. It is most common in people over 50 years.
You can’t catch shingles from someone who has shingles, but you can get chickenpox from someone who has shingles if you have never had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine.
The initial symptoms of shingles are:
About 2 to 3 days after the initial symptoms, a rash will appear on sensitive skin. This rash usually appears on one side of your body around a skin nerve (called a dermatome).
At first, the rash consists of painful red bumps. These bumps quickly develop into fluid-filled blisters, which can be painful and itchy. These blisters will burst, and then heal into a crusty surface over 2 weeks.
Shingles rash can affect your face, chest, back, abdomen (tummy) and pelvis. The rash usually lasts for around 10 days, but it can take several weeks to settle.
There is no cure for shingles. But starting antiviral therapy within 3 days of the rash appearing can reduce:
The shingles vaccine helps prevent you from getting shingles and is strongly recommended for certain groups who may be more vulnerable to infection.
Your eligibility for community pharmacist management of shingles will depend on your age, severity of your symptoms and location of the rash, and any other relevant medications or medical conditions.
Visit healthdirect for more information on shingles.
Psoriasis is a long-term skin condition that causes red, scaly patches on your skin. It is not contagious (it can't be caught from others).
There are several types of psoriasis. Each type may look and feel different and can affect different parts of your body.
Plaque psoriasis is the most common type of psoriasis. Symptoms can:
Flare-ups may be triggered by stress, cold weather or infections.
There is no cure for psoriasis but there are many treatments that may help manage it. What works best depends on how severe your psoriasis is and where it appears on your body.
Treatments that pharmacists may be able to provide include topical creams and ointments.
Your eligibility for community pharmacist management of psoriasis will depend on your age, severity and location of the rash, and any other relevant medications or medical conditions. To be eligible for pharmacist management of this condition, and you must have been previously diagnosed with plaque psoriasis by a medical practitioner (like a general practitioner or dermatologist).
Visit healthdirect for more information on psoriasis.
Your pharmacist may need to refer you to your doctor (GP) or another health care professional to ensure you get the right treatment at the right time. In an emergency, the pharmacist may also refer you to the Emergency Department.
You may be referred to your doctor for further advice if you:
Pharmacies can choose to provide this service. If they choose to provide the service, they must also meet requirements including completion of additional training, and providing an appropriate private consultation area. Not all pharmacists will choose to provide advice or treatment.
Any pharmacist can still advise on non-prescription initial management options and pain relief options for minor skin conditions.
A lot of people can get better from certain minor skin conditions without needing to take medicine. This may be the best option for you. Your pharmacist will discuss this with you during your consultation.
Pharmacists must complete additional dermatology training to provide this service.
Participating pharmacists are provided with clear practice standards that instruct them on who is eligible to receive treatment and who must be referred to their doctor (GP) or an Emergency Department.
The standards have been developed in consultation with key stakeholders and are based on international best practice. They have been tested through the NSW Pharmacy Trial for pharmacists managing minor skin conditions, which ran from 19 July 2024 until 31 August 2025.
The University of Newcastle is currently undertaking an independent evaluation of the trial data, and will produce a final report for the NSW Ministry of Health in 2026. This information will be used to inform future service delivery models.
Refer to NSW Pharmacy Trial for more information.
If you have any concerns or complaints regarding pharmacist management of minor skin conditions or concerns about the appropriateness of consultation areas please see the making a complaint page.
Concerns about professional practice and care can also be made to the Health Care Complaints Commission or the Pharmacy Council of NSW.
To receive treatment from the pharmacist you will need to provide your name, date of birth, contact details and doctor (GP) name, if you have one.
You will also need to give your consent to receive treatment, if deemed appropriate, and consent for the pharmacist to share your consultation details with your GP.
Any information you provide in your consultation must be stored by the pharmacist using secure digital software, for a period of seven (7) years or, in the case of health information collected while the patient was under the age of 18 years, until the patient has attained the age of 25 years.
Pharmacists can charge a consultation fee for providing these services – this is at the discretion of the pharmacy. The pharmacist will follow clinical management guidelines and in many cases your condition may be safely treated without the need for you to be issued prescription medicines.
Prescription medicines are not subsidised when supplied by a pharmacist without a prescription. This means that when a prescription medicine is needed, the cost will be the same as a private prescription, with the price determined by the pharmacy and paid for by the patient.
Check with your pharmacist about the cost of consultation and medicines before you agree to receive the service.
Pharmacies delivering these services are required to maintain an up-to-date listing on the healthdirect Service Finder.
To find a pharmacist who can assist you with your condition, select Pharmacy from the ‘Search by service’ drop down menu, then enter your suburb or postcode, and click search.
This will provide you with a list of local pharmacies. When you click on each pharmacy, you can see a list of Offerings (if they are providing these services).
You can also choose to search by health services. The expanded scope services on the healthdirect Service Finder are referred to as the ‘Skin disorder treatment service’.
Always call ahead before you visit your pharmacy for a consultation, or use their online booking tool if they have one.
