Community Update - 17 December 2025

Wednesday 17 December 2025

Welcome

Welcome to our community update. This is NHS North West London's newsletter for local community and voluntary groups.

Please help us by sharing the relevant content in your community newsletters and email updates aimed at your members and residents. You may also use this wording in social media posts. Images and some campaign materials in different languages are available on our resources page.

Resident doctors' strike - getting the help you need

Resident doctors have announced strikes from 7am on Wednesday 17 December to 7am Monday 22 December 2025.

During this period services are expected to be very busy. Please help us to help you by visiting 111 online or calling NHS 111 for advice on the best service for your needs. 

Hospital services will be affected:

if it’s not an emergency, stay away from your local hospital: NHS 111 can direct you to the right place for care
in an emergency, always call 999
If you have an appointment, you will be contacted if it needs to be rescheduled. If you don’t hear anything, attend your appointment as planned
if you need health help, please think about the best place to go for the help you need.

Find out more about which service to turn to if you're feeling unwell on the NHS North West London website.

Flu cases are rising – get protected, stay safe and help stop the spread

Flu cases are rising this winter. If you haven’t been vaccinated, check if you are eligible and book a free vaccination to keep you and your loved ones safer.

If you have symptoms of flu, such as coughing, sneezing or fever, there are some things you can do to help get better more quickly. Rest and keep warm, and take paracetamol or ibuprofen to lower your temperature and treat aches and pains. Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated. Pharmacists can help with treatment and advice.

Stay home if you can and wear a mask around other people.

If your need urgent medical help use NHS 111 .

Staying at home until you are better can help stop the spread. For more information visit www.nhs.uk/conditions/flu

Pharmacy opening hours for the 2025 - 2026 Christmas and New Year Bank Holidays

Bank Holidays can affect the opening hours of local pharmacies. A news story on the NHS North West London website provides the opening hours for pharmacies in north west London which have been asked to open over the bank holidays (25 - 26 December 2025 and 1 January 2026)

It's important to order and collect your prescriptions ahead of this to make sure you have enough supply over this period.

There may be additional pharmacies opening which are not listed. If the pharmacy you would like to visit is not listed here, then you can check their opening hours by searching at www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-pharmacy or by contacting NHS 111.

Access emergency dental care through NHS 111

Don’t suffer through the pain. If you’ve got a tooth knocked out, severe pain, or a swelling/lump in your mouth—it’s time to move. NHS 111 is your fast track to urgent dental care 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

NHS 111 can advise you where you can get seen and, in appropriate cases, organise an emergency dental appointment, which might be at a different practice from your regular NHS dentist but usually nearby. If you have a regular dentist, contact your practice first. If you don’t, or you need advice out of hours, NHS 111 is here for you.

Find out more on our website.

ICB CEO announces her departure

Chief Executive, Frances O’Callaghan, has announced that she will be leaving North Central and North West London West ICBs to take up a new role as Chief Executive of NHS Blood and Transplant. She will begin her new role in February 2026.

Further updates will be given in due course.

Find out more on the NHS North West London website.

We have been visiting your communities

NHS North West London's involvement team has attended lots of events recently.

The team attended the Khalsa Jatha Gurdwara in Kensington & Chelsea, to speak to residents about winter messaging and NHS access. As part of Big Week, they were joined by local Pharmacy team at Chana Chemist who supported the delivery of vaccinations, mini health checks and held conversations on the Pharmacy First offer. 35 blood pressure checks were completed alongside the seven flu vaccinations administered.

A walk and talk event, delivered in partnership with Nines Health and Fitness Club (Brent), saw strong community engagement, with 45 participants joining the walk and a total of 51 people attending throughout the day.

Meet our Involvement team at an event near you

The NHS North West London involvement team attends a range of meetings and events with different communities and residents across our eight boroughs.

Find out more about these events and those taking place in other boroughs.