MANY of us GPs work in NHS24 over the festive period. I have been doing this for almost eight years and I have seen a pattern to the types of medical presentations that come through the door over the four-day festive public holidays.

Christmas time, for many, is one to celebrate, have fun and, of course, indulge. We eat a lot of rich food that perhaps we don’t often eat. Time becomes irrelevant as we supplement our heavy meals with hearty snacks all day.

We lounge about, only moving if we have to, so have little in the way of physical activity. We indulge in our tipples of choice and we have a very merry time until a few hours later when the body starts to attack back. Sound familiar?

The morning working in out-of- hours usually starts off quietly; it’s the calm before the storm. During this time we attend to those requiring urgent medical attention both in the centre or at home as well as manage the trickles of the usual coughs, colds, tummy bugs, and rashes, sprinkled with the few patients who forgot to order their repeat medications before the public holiday and therefore need urgent supplies. As the evening approaches, however, the rumbles begin.

The booking screens become packed with complaints such as abdominal pain, heartburn, vomiting, bloating, urine infections, headache, anxiety, low mood, intoxication... the list is endless. Often the root cause tends to be self-inflicted, preventable and reversible with simple non-medical interventions. The waiting rooms start to overflow as all of us healthcare professionals and the wider NHS 24 team struggle to keep up with the demands.

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What is the trigger? In the run up to Christmas, we are all guilty of overdoing everything. We push ourselves to meet the pressures of getting everything ready as we aim to please everyone. We don’t look after ourselves, compromise sleep and experience high levels of stress. This usually contributes to feelings of exhaustion, anxiety and headaches.

The over-eating and excess alcohol consumption can contribute to heartburn, indigestion, and headaches. Another very common cause for headaches during this time is dehydration, where caffeine, alcohol and soft drinks are favoured over our daily basic requirements of water.

Countless people attend NHS24 and A&E intoxicated, only to be left in a quiet room to sober up and then go home. This definitely is not an appropriate use of NHS resources so we ought to give this some consideration. A simple way to avoid this is to pace the drinking and have a glass of water after every alcoholic one.

Seasonal winter viruses are in surplus, so they grab their opportunities to spread themselves as we gather together in close environments unaware that we are facilitating the process. Careful hand-washing therefore, preparing meals properly and not coughing and spluttering over one another can help. Also being mindful and considerate to those frail, pregnant and on immunosuppressing treatments can be a gift in itself.

This can be a wonderful time of year but it must be remembered that it isn’t for everyone. Many are experiencing pain, loss, isolation and therefore thinking of them and including them where possible helps ease their feelings of anxiety and low mood, as they spend the day otherwise feeling worse.

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I do hate to be Dr Grinch, but I want to highlight that we all have a role to play in our healthcare to a degree. Having a great time is important but it can be done consciously and more mindfully by approaching it with some basic principles. Keep weaving in healthy food, remembering to balance the good with the naughty, keep hydrated drinking 6-8 glasses of water over the day, sit less and move more, and prioritise sleep throughout winter. Also checking in to how you and those around you are feeling helps ease the sense of isolation, anxiety and low mood. By all means have a drink but moderation is key so know, or listen to others when they tell you, that it’s time to stop.

We frontline healthcare staff will be working, rushing around the clock to attend all those who really need urgent medical attention. It is the time of year where we see some of the sickest people, so we need all our resources, time and efforts diverted to those. We are fortunate to have an incredible NHS24 service. I feel very fortunate to be able to also work for it. As both a patient and as a GP I understand wholly how limited the resources are so we mustn’t take it for granted. We all have a role to play in keeping ourselves and the NHS going – but it all starts with exercising a little self-care and when you really need us, the teams will be there to help.