Sussex patients urged to order prescriptions before August bank holiday closures

Most pharmacies and GP surgeries in Sussex are closed or have reduced hours during the evening and over weekends and bank holidays.

Running out of daily medication over weekend or a bank holiday could have serious consequences, especially for patients who rely on their prescriptions to control heart and breathing problems.

Patients in need of repeat medication in the evening or at the weekend and bank holiday can put a lot of strain on NHS out of hours services, which are there to deal with urgent health problems.

A spokesperson for NHS Sussex said: “Bank holiday weekends are always busy times for the NHS so picking up a repeat prescription in advance really does helps us, help you.

“We are reminding patients, their families and carers to please check now that they have enough daily medication to see them through the summer bank holiday weekend.

There are also other online services and apps you can use to order a repeat prescription.

Patients can contact their GP, order repeat prescriptions to collect from a local pharmacist and access services to manage wellbeing without leaving home at nhs.uk/health-at-home.

A pharmacist can also help with advice on minor illness and ailments, offering treatment advice and recommend remedies, and give guidance on giving medicines to children. No appointment is necessary to see a local pharmacist and most have private consultation areas.

They can also offer advice about keeping a well-stocked medicine cabinet at home, which helps everyone to be prepared for common health problems.

You can view the full list of August bank holiday pharmacy opening times here.