Don’t run out of medication this Bank Holiday

With another four day weekend ahead with the Royal Wedding and the May Bank Holiday, people who need regular medication across Cumbria are reminded to check and make sure they’ve got enough of their prescriptions to last the long weekend.

Anyone who does not have enough medication should contact their GP surgery or local pharmacy before Friday to arrange a repeat prescription.

GP surgeries across Cumbria will be shut for four days from Friday 29th April until Tuesday 2nd May.

During this time Cumbria Health on Call (CHoC), Cumbria’s out of hours GP Service will provide cover from six clinic locations across the county.

This is urgent cover as provided in the evenings and weekends normally, therefore people are asked to be sensible and only contact CHoC if they have an urgent problem which cannot wait until their GP surgery reopens.

Patients should call Cumbria Health on Call on 03000 247 247 before attending one of their clinic locations.

Clinics are available in Barrow, Kendal, Penrith, Carlisle, Workington and Whitehaven.

Cumbria Health on Call, are not able to issue repeat prescriptions, so patients who may require a repeat prescription over the bank holidays or weekends need to organise this in advance.

A limited number of pharmacies are open across Cumbria on the Bank Holidays and also operate limited opening hours. Information on which pharmacies are open and when, are available online at www.cumbria.nhs.uk

Dr Craig Melrose is the Medical Director of Cumbria Health on Call. He said: “Last weekend, we found that most people were sensible and only contacted CHoC if they had an urgent medical problem, however we did have a number of people contacting us as they had run out of prescription medication and weren’t able to see their normal GP.

“We can all be a bit forgetful sometimes, so we’re just asking people to make sure that if they do rely on prescription medication, that they do check they have enough to last into next week, until their normal GP surgery reopens. This way we can ensure that our doctor and nurse time is spent with those who really need our help and advice.”

Medical advice is also available 24/7 from NHS Direct on 0845 46 47 or advice can be found online at www.nhs.uk Your local pharmacist can also offer advice, although some will be closed on the Bank Holidays. A list of who is open and when is available at www.cumbria.nhs.uk