Don’t forget your Christmas prescriptions

With Christmas just around the corner, people with long term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, lung and heart disease are being reminded not to leave it too late to get their repeat prescriptions.

Many GP practices will have limited opening hours between Christmas and New Year, which means some people may struggle if they run out of their medication.

David Reece, Prescribing Advisor for NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale, said: “There are around 1.5 million people in the North West who have a long term health condition. We want to make sure that people with these illnesses have a good Christmas and New Year. The last thing we want is for people to run out of their medication, become poorly and have to spend part of their holiday in hospital.

“It can be hard in the busy run up to Christmas to find time to look after yourself. But a simple call to your GP surgery, or a visit to your high-street pharmacy could make all the difference. Your pharmacy can also give you useful advice on how to deal with winter bugs, such as coughs, colds, sore throats and the flu.”

NHS teams across the North West are backing the Choose Well campaign. Choose Well reinforces the message that A&E and 999 services are for life-threatening and serious conditions.

High-street pharmacies can help deal with minor illnesses and complaints such as coughs, colds, flu, stomach upsets, aches and sprains.