NHS in Stockport remind residents to have medication ready over Christmas

With all the town’s GP practices closed over the Christmas and New Year bank holidays, NHS Stockport CCG are reminding residents to ensure their medicine cabinet is stocked as part of their Christmas preparations.

Stockport GP practices are urging patients to get their repeat prescription requests in ahead of time, to avoid any shortages. This is particularly important for Stockport residents with long-term health conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, lung or heart disease.

Stockport’s lead GP, Dr Cath Briggs, said:

We have about sixty thousand people in Stockport with a long-term health condition and, along with everyone else, we’d like them to have a good Christmas and New Year.  We really do not want them running out of their medication, becoming poorly and having to spend part of the festive break ill or, worse still, in hospital. It can be hard in the busy run up to Christmas to find time to look after yourself but it’s really important that you think about your health and get your repeat prescriptions in on time.”

During the winter months, GP surgeries and A&E departments see an increase in the number of patients coming through their doors, often from patients with common winter bugs that will clear up by themselves.

NHS Stockport CCG is reminding the borough’s residents to access advice from pharmacists for minor illnesses and complaints, such as coughs, colds, flu, stomach upsets, aches and sprains, who are highly trained professions and are available without an appointment.

Dr Briggs added:

If you make sure you’ve got a reasonably well stocked medicine cabinet you can treat most minor illnesses, like sore throats, coughs and colds and upset stomachs, at home.  It saves you a trip to your doctors surgery but also means that GPs can concentrate their efforts on patients who really need their expertise.”