With the Easter Bank Holiday (Friday 18 – Monday 21 April) on the horizon, make sure you’re know how to get medical help if you need it.
Over Easter services are still available such as pharmacies for minor illnesses. If you need urgent health help, use NHS 111 online (www.111.nhs.uk) or call 111. Your symptoms will be assessed, and you will be provided with healthcare advice or an appointment to see a doctor or nurse if this is needed. NHS 111 can also send an ambulance and can book an appointment for you in some services like urgent treatment centres or get you emergency dental care or GP appointments.
If you or someone you know is in a mental health crisis, call NHS 111 and get straight through to mental health help by selecting option 2.
There will be pharmacies open over the bank holiday weekend. You can find a list of pharmacies open on Good Friday and Easter Monday by visiting www.nhs.uk and using the ‘Find a Pharmacy’ tool.
Pharmacies can offer treatment for a range of common illnesses such as ear ache, sore throat and rashes. Find out more about pharmacy support on our website.
If you are travelling at Easter, remember to take your medication with you and remind family or friends visiting you to do the same.
Your GP practice will open again on Tuesday 22 April at 8am. Phone lines are likely to be even busier than normal after the long weekend, so please be patient as practice staff try to help as many people as they can. If you have a computer or smartphone, you can use your GP practice’s online consultation service, which directs your query quickly to the right member of practice staff, and helps free up the telephone lines for those who aren’t online.
Pick up a few medicines while you’re shopping so that you can look after very minor illnesses or injuries yourself. You can buy basic essentials like paracetamol, ibuprofen, plasters, antiseptic cream, allergy medicine and indigestion remedies from pharmacies and supermarkets for less than the cost of a prescription. Remember, cheaper non-branded versions of medicines work just as well as branded products.
Feeling a bit under the weather? The NHS website has lots of advice to help you to look after yourself when you have minor symptoms.