18 April (Good Friday) and 21 April 2025 (Easter Monday) are bank holidays in England. Easter Sunday falls on 20 April 2025.
The NHS is advising that repeat prescriptions should be ordered at least seven working days ahead of the holiday period to guarantee that they will be available in time.
Patients should remember to plan ahead and order any repeat prescriptions in plenty of time before the holiday period when GP practices are closed, and some pharmacies will also be closed or opening with reduced hours.
In addition to planning ahead, people are also being urged to make sure that they know how to access urgent care if they need to over the bank holidays, and to support the safe and timely discharge of loved ones who are ready to leave hospital.
The NHS would like to remind people that hospitals can often become very busy over the bank holidays, and to make NHS 111 their first point of call for all non-emergency healthcare treatment and advice. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling 111 or online at: www.111.nhs.uk
Patients should still call 999 or go to A&E in an emergency situation when someone is seriously ill or injured, and their life may be at risk. But if you need any other medical help and you are not sure where to go, please use NHS 111 to get assessed and quickly directed to the right place for you.
If needed, NHS 111 can also arrange a call back from an Advanced Clinical Practitioner, a Doctor, or Paramedic or they can book you an appointment at a local pharmacy, urgent treatment centre, or hospital A&E department.
For advice and treatment for minor health concerns, people are also reminded to visit an NHS walk-in or urgent treatment centre, or to think about using the new ‘Pharmacy First’ service, which allows pharmacists to assess and treat patients for common conditions – without the need for a GP appointment or prescription first.
Simply drop in to your local pharmacy and ask for advice – but do remember to call ahead to check their bank holiday opening hours. You can learn more at What can the Pharmacy First scheme do for me? You can search for your nearest pharmacy and find out their opening times at: www.nhs.uk/find-a-pharmacy
The attached document provides the opening hours for pharmacies in north west London, as well as other London boroughs, which have been asked to open over Easter 2025.