Get help for a sore throat

Use this form at any time to get help from your practice. We aim to respond within 2 working hours.

Get help for a severe sore throat

About the Patient's Problem

If you're not sure, it's helpful to tell us whether it's been days, weeks, months or years.

Sore Throat

Sore throats are very common and usually nothing to worry about. They normally get better by themselves within a week.

GPs do not normally prescribe antibiotics for sore throats because they will not usually relieve your symptoms or speed up your recovery.

Since your sore throat started, have you had any of the following symptoms?

Fever in the past 24 hours *
New Cough *
Runny nose, blocked nose or sneezing *
White or yellow spots on tonsils *
Tonsils much larger or much more red than usual *
Drinking less than half your normal amount in the past 24 hours *

Since your sore throat started, have you had any of the following symptoms?

Drooling *
Unable to swallow any liquid *
Not passing any urine in the last 12 hours *
Muffled or hoarse voice *
Making a high-pitched sound as you breathe *
Unable to open your mouth fully *
Visible swelling of your neck *
Shivering *
Your symptoms are severe and are getting worse quickly *
Difficulty breathing or breathing very fast *
Acting confused, slurred speech or not making sense *
Due to your above condition we advise you to go to 111.nhs.uk or call 111.

Are you allergic to penicillins? Penicillin antibiotics include amoxicillin, flucloxacillin, co-amoxiclav and others. *

Please send us photos of your throat

A case of strep throat, culture positive by James Heilman is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

A good photo of the throat will allow our clinicians to know if antibiotics would help you.

This is an example of a good photo. You can clearly see the tonsils, which are the two red lumps with white marks.

Smartphones can take good photos of the throat. Put the rear camera against your open mouth and use the flash. Take a few photos and send us the best one or two. The back of your mouth needs to be in focus.

Open your mouth as wide as you can and try to get your tongue down. It helps to imagine that you have to fit a golf ball in the back of your mouth.

Any files you attach may be stored on your medical records.

Drop a file here or click to upload Choose File
Maximum upload size: 67.11MB

Communication Preferences

How would you like us to deal with the problem? *
Video Consultation

Video consultations require you to have a smartphone, tablet, laptop or any computer with camera and microphone or headset. You will also require access to the internet, preferably over WiFi. If the practice decides on a video consultation you will be sent an email containing a link for the video consultation, so it's best if you can receive your emails on that same device.

If the practice has a mobile number for you, we may send text messages to this number to inform you of an appointment time, or to allow you to book an appointment at a time of your choice.

Terms & Conditions *