Northwest Chief Pharmacist urges people to order repeat prescriptions ahead of Easter
It's to help ease pressures on the NHS over the busy bank holiday period
With the Easter bank holidays coming soon, the North West’s top pharmacist is urging members of the public to order repeat prescriptions in good time.
Chief Pharmacist, Karen O’Brien MBE, who leads the pharmacy service across the region, recommends people order any repeat prescriptions that are due over the Easter weekend, from Good Friday to Easter Monday by Friday, by 11 April to ensure they can be processed and collected in time.
Bank holiday weekends typically see an increase in people contacting the NHS 111 service for emergency prescriptions because they are running out of medication. Last Easter the service received more than double the number of calls from people across the North West who needed to order repeat prescriptions.
Karen O'Brien said: “Keeping your medicine cabinets stocked, knowing when GP practices are open and planning for repeat prescriptions will ensure you can make the most of the Easter holidays, especially if you’re going away.
“Running out of your usual medication can have serious consequences, especially if you use them to control a heart condition, breathing problems or have a health condition such as diabetes.
We've been speaking with Dr Paula Cowan, the Regional Medical Director for Primary Care for the Northwest about people needing to order their prescriptions early before the surge in demand the NHS are expected to see over the bank holiday weekend
"What we don't want is patients to run out of their medications, and then have to try and get them through the emergency care services.
"If they run short of their medications, they can run into problems.
"What we really want is for people to order their prescriptions well in advance of the Easter weekend"
A spokesperson for the NHS in the Northwest said:
As well as ordering repeat medications, the NHS App allows people to book and cancel appointments at their GP practice, view their health record and get health advice, searching trusted NHS information and advice on hundreds of conditions and treatments. Download the NHS App on the app store or on google play, and ensure you have notifications switched on in the app.
Over Easter all urgent and emergency care services will be open. The public should call 999 or attend accident and emergency services in the event of a life or limb threatening emergency. Non-emergency health advice the public contact 111.nhs.uk for their first port of call. If you cannot access NHS 111 online, please call 111.
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