Summer Health: Are you Holiday ready?

If you are heading away for a break this summer, it’s important to be ready.

Whether you are jetting off abroad or exploring closer to home, here is some information that we hope will be useful.

We’ll cover travel vaccinations, assessing your risk, getting medication and more. You can scroll through or skip to sections of interest.

---

Travel Advice

We would always suggest seeking out reliable travel advice well in advance of your trip.

Depending on your destination, there may be recommended vaccinations or risks of malaria or other specific illnesses to consider.

Visit Fit for Travel or Travel Health Pro and search for your destinations for the latest advice.

There are wider risks to consider as well, like food and water safety, insect and animal bites, sun safety and risks of respiratory illnesses.

Make sure you have appropriate travel insurance for your trip, covering healthcare and any planned activities. Some countries might have restrictions on travelling with medication, so that is something else to be aware of.

Travel Vaccinations

Depending on where you are going, you might need to get certain vaccinations before you go. You can find this information on the Fit for Travel or Travel Health Pro websites.

Some travel vaccinations are free and can be given by GP practices, depending on availability.

Free NHS travel vaccines include:

• Polio
• Typhoid
• Hepatitis A
• Cholera

These free vaccines protect against diseases that would represent the greatest risk to public health if they were introduced into the country.

Other vaccines are only available through specialist travel clinics, and you must pay for them. These include:

• Hepatitis B
• Japanese encephalitis
• Meningitis
• Rabies
• Tick born encephalitis
• Tuberculosis (TB)
• Yellow Fever

All major pharmacies will offer this service, but please contact your chosen pharmacy to check availability in advance.

Complete a Travel Risk Assessment

After reading about your destination, the next step is to complete a travel risk assessment survey.

As well as scheduling any vaccines that we can give, it is best to discuss your own health, your trip, and planned activities, especially if you have any long-term conditions.

You can complete the online form here.

Please wait 3 working days after submitting your form before contacting us to make an appointment.

Remember, if you need other non-NHS vaccinations, or malaria medication, for example, you must arrange these yourself.

Holidaying in England

If you are holidaying in this country and need medical help, remember you have the same options as you would at home.

NHS 111 will always be a good first port of call for self-help and advice.

If you are away from the area and need to be assessed, NHS 111 can direct you to the most appropriate place near you.

If you need to order a prescription, then we would still advise the NHS App as the easiest way. You can nominate a pharmacy near you, or use the NHS App to create a barcode to take to any pharmacy.

Remember, community pharmacists can provide advice and treatment for a range of common issues, like earache, shingles, infected bites and complicated UTIs.