People living in Lanarkshire are being encouraged to meet their local health expert to find out how they can access a wide range of health help and advice quickly and easily.

Optician Frank Munro is one of over 80 community optometrists (opticians) working across Lanarkshire. He is a NHS Lanarkshire ‘Meet the Expert’ who appeared in one of a series of light-hearted films produced to help inform people about the range of available health services they can use.

Frank Munro, who works in Munro Optometrists in Coatbridge, explains: “Your local optometrist is the best person to deal with any eye complaint. They have the specialist training and equipment to assess all eye conditions including urgent eye problems, emergencies, injuries and sore eyes, and to check for eye disorders or disturbances to people’s vision.”

Visiting a local health expert is much faster and easier way for people to get the health help they need, without having to see their GP first or spending hours waiting in A&E.

The experts include a dentist, optician, physiotherapist and a nurse at a minor injuries clinic. Local pharmacists are also an effective one-stop-shop for advice.

The NHS Lanarkshire website also features a new film on ‘self-care’, often the simplest way to treat a minor illnesses and injuries like a cough, sore throat or a burn and details on national services like NHS Inform and NHS24.

John Keaney, Divisional Medical Director for NHS Lanarkshire’s Acute Services said: “If people take advantage of the expert help on their doorstep, then A&E departments can be kept free to treat patients facing serious health problems.”

“We’re urging people to stop and think before they go to A&E.  There are lots of other qualified experts who can safely and quickly advise people on many health conditions.”

Lanarkshire’s A&E services are already among the busiest in Scotland, with people typically waiting four hours or longer during peak times. This winter is one of the busiest on record, so people are being urged to only visit A&E departments in a real emergency.

To help everyone get the right help and support they need, people are being encouraged to

• Visit nhsinform.scot first, to find a nearby health expert. There’s also a self-help guide for minor illnesses and injuries. You can also chat online or call 0800224488 between 0800-2200hrs every day
• Speak to a local pharmacist for advice on coughs, colds, stomach upsets, pains, minor infections, minor burns and over the counter remedies
• Make sure you have the basics in your medicine cabinet
• Make an appointment with a GP if the illness doesn’t go away – surgeries can arrange phone consultations or fast track referrals in urgent situations
• Call NHS 24 on 111 for urgent, out of hours support or if help can’t be accessed any other way nhs24.scot/

For more information about NHS Lanarkshire’s ‘Meet the Experts’ films visit https://www.nhslanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk/experts/