Urgent NHS prescriptions warning ahead of the Easter bank holidays – are you affected?
MEDICS have urged anyone with prescriptions to plan ahead for Easter.
As the four-day bank holiday approaches, you might want to check you have enough medication to tide you over, NHS bosses said.
If not, it’s vital that you order any repeat prescriptions ‘as soon as possible’, with plenty of time for them to be fulfilled.
This is because pharmacies or GPs might be closed or have different opening times between Friday April 7 and Monday April 10, Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust said.
Dr Paula Cowan, the NHS North West medical director for primary care, said: “If a patient is due a repeat prescription in the days coming up to and around the bank holiday weekend, they should get that request in as soon as possible.
“That will mean they won’t run short of medication and it will also give the pharmacy plenty of time to ensure their prescriptions are ready.”
Doing this will ensure that you don’t have to wait in the emergency department if you run out of your medicines, she continued.
Dr Cowan said to keep in mind emergency and urgent care services – as well as NHS 111 – are currently under pressure.
But other trusts such as NHS Royal Berkshire advised that you go to NHS 111 online if you do run out of your prescription medication over the break and need an emergency supply.
They will be able to signpost you on how to access your meds, it said.
Dr Cowan noted that the best way to order repeat prescriptions was through the NHS app or on a GP’s website.
“Many practices now have websites where patients can order the repeat prescriptions, and it will go to their nominated pharmacy,” she said.
“It streamlines things and makes it easier as there’s less need to drop off a prescription into the practice and come back within three days. Doing it electronically means that it’s at the pharmacy within 72 hours,” she added.
You can check whether a pharmacy will be open during the bank holiday on your regional NHS website.
Prescription charges for most people rose from £9.35 to £9.56 on April 1, as did the cost of prescription pre-payment certificates (PPCs).
A three month PPC increased by £1 to £31.25 and 12-month PPCs increased by £3.50 to £111.60.
An annual hormone replacement therapy pass also opened up to women at the start of the month, with some 37,700 prescriptions being bought since the rule change.
Brits are also set to bask in warmer temperatures this Easter bank holiday weekend, bringing with them first pollen bomb of 2023.
Most of England, Wales and Northern Ireland were warned the pollen bomb would bring misery to hay fever sufferers.