Doctors are urging patients in Bradford to give themselves the gift of good health this Christmas by being prepared for the holiday period.

Health chiefs have issued advice as part of a campaign funded by NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in West Yorkshire, which includes a new website nhsstaywell.org.

Patients are being told to make sure they have enough medicines to see them through the holiday period so that doctors are not called out unnecessarily and people do not head to A&E when they don’t need to.

Doctors are also reminding patients of the benefits of using their local pharmacies.

Dr Aamer Khan, urgent care lead for Bradford City CCG, said: “Winter is a time when demand on emergency services increases dramatically, so it is important that patients think: does this illness or injury really need emergency treatment? Sometimes self-care is the answer, especially for coughs and colds which cannot be treated with antibiotics anyway.

“If patients are taking regular medicines, making sure they have enough stocks.”