Published on: 14 April 2025
Make sure you can take it easy this Easter – that’s the call from NHS leaders who hope people will be prepared in case of illness or injury.
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust is preparing for the long holiday weekend ahead, from Good Friday, April 18, to Easter Monday, April 21, as well as looking ahead to the early May Bank Holiday, Monday, May 5.
Its A&E departments will remain open around the clock to help in anyone in an emergency and community nursing services will run as usual. Out-of-ours GP services are also accessible across its communities. Surgeries have details in place to help, should an appointment be needed.
It is hoped people will get any repeat prescription requests in within the next couple of days, so that patients do not go without while practices are not open for their usual hours. Those who have long-term health conditions are reminded in particular to make sure they have enough medication to see them through.
People are also reminded to make sure their medicine cabinets are well-stocked, so that if someone feels unwell or has a minor injury, they have supplies to help them recover.
Anyone who needs advice or to check where the right place for their care is can use NHS 111 Online as a first port of call. In an emergency, they should call 999 or head for their nearest A&E.
Dr Sean Fenwick is Deputy Chief Executive of the Trust. He is also co-chair of the NHS strategic urgent and emergency care board for the North East and North Cumbria.
He said:
"The Easter weekend, as well as the school holidays around it, are always a busy time for our hard-working teams.
"To help them deal with those who are most unwell or injured, we need people to think about where they should go if they need help before coming to us.
"It could be that they face a very long wait and then still may be told they need to go elsewhere for care.
"NHS 111 Online is a good place to start if you need to check out what to do or where to go. It helps direct people to the right place to be seen and it also has lots of information which is useful.
"Pharmacies will be available and details are online to find the nearest one open to you.
"Most of all, we want people to enjoy the long weekend. These tips can be a help in making sure you have a good Easter break and as we look ahead to the first May Bank Holiday. They will also help us manage demand for our frontline services for those who need them most."
Health advice and information is also available via the NHS App or the NHS website, a patient’s GP practice website, which link to a range of online services.
In most cases, people can order repeat prescriptions online. Opening hours for over the weekend can be found through this page: Easter pharmacy opening hours 2025
For children’s health advice people can download the Little Orange Book, which offers tips about a wide range of illnesses and conditions. It can be downloaded by clicking here: Little Orange Book
Those looking after children can also visit the Healthier Together website through or can download the app via their phone.
British Sign Language (BSL) speakers can make a BSL video call to 999.
Deaf people can use 18000 to contact 999 using text relay. More details are available via https://999bsl.co.uk/
If you are concerned about how much you, or someone you know, drinks, there’s lots of help available.
Speak to your GP, find your local alcohol support service, or contact Drinkline on freephone 0300 123 1110 or Alcoholics Anonymous on 0845 769 7555.
