With another bank holiday just around the corner, the NHS is encouraging people across the North East and Yorkshire to visit a pharmacist if they need quick access to health advice or treatment for minor illnesses.

Your local pharmacy can help you with more than you might think. Every pharmacist is trained in managing minor illnesses and providing health and wellbeing advice which means they are the right people to help with your minor health concerns.

Bank holidays are often very busy times for hospitals across the whole of the region, and although A&E departments are open 24/7 and are staffed by experts trained to deal with any situation, such large numbers of patients through the doors can often mean long waits for people with minor illnesses.

Professor Chris Gray, a medical director for the NHS in the North East and Yorkshire region, said: “We want people to enjoy their weekend, and not spend it in A&E if it can be avoided. Many GPs have extended hours of opening and pharmacists across the region are open for business over the bank holidays.

“For minor illnesses, your local pharmacist is an excellent source of help and should be your first point of contact. Emergency departments get extremely busy during holiday periods and we want to ensure that people who can be cared for elsewhere are not waiting at A&E.

“We would also like to remind patients to order any medication they need from their GP surgery in plenty of time, so they have enough to last over the bank holiday weekend.”

Pharmacy opening hours across the North East and Yorkshire over the Summer bank holiday weekend can be found here.

People can also find information on their nearest walk-in centres, urgent care centres or minor injuries units by simply typing in their postcode on www.nhs.uk. If you need urgent care, use the NHS111 service by visiting 111.nhs.uk online or by dialing 111 on your phone. NHS 111 is a free service which runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.