This year the Christmas and New Year Bank Holidays are:
Monday 25th December (Christmas)
Tuesday 26th December (Boxing Day)
Monday 1st January (New Years Day)
Scotland has an additional Bank Holiday on Tuesday 2nd January
This article covers the change in response time displayed to the patient when they complete their eConsult and also how to request bank holiday closure so patients aren't able to submit eConsults.
Extended response time
The eConsult system recognises the Christmas & New Year Bank Holidays by automatically extending the time you have to respond to clinical eConsult submissions during this period.
Please note the deadline for requesting bank holiday closure is 12pm on the 19th December.
Please see the updated response times below:
December 2023/January 2024
Submission date | Response time |
Friday 22.12.2023 | Wednesday 27.12.2023 |
Saturday 23.12.2023 | Thursday 28.12.2023 |
Sunday 24.12.2023 | Thursday 28.12.2023 |
Monday 25.12.2023 (Christmas Bank Holiday) | Thursday 28.12.2023 |
Tuesday 26.12.2023 (Boxing Day Bank Holiday) | Thursday 28.12.2023 |
Friday 29.12.2023 | Tuesday 02.01.2024 (Wednesday 03.01.2024 if in Scotland) |
Saturday 30.12.2023 | Wednesday 03.01.2024 (Thursday 04.01.2024 if in Scotland) |
Sunday 31.01.2023 | Wednesday 03.01.2024 (Thursday 04.01.2024 if in Scotland) |
Monday 01.01.2024 (New Year Bank Holiday) | Wednesday 03.01.2024 (Thursday 04.01.2024 if in Scotland) |
Tuesday 02.01.2024 (Scottish Bank Holiday) | Wednesday 03.01.2024 (Thursday 04.01.2024 if in Scotland) |
All Admin submissions have a 3-working-day response, the table above provides response times for clinical submissions only.
Request Bank Holiday Closure
To request the closure of your practice for the Christmas & New Year Bank Holiday please read the available options below before submitting your decision via the blue button.
If your practice has eConsult switched off at the weekend, this will be automatically extended to include the Bank Holiday days so you do not need to complete the form. The closure timings will be the usual times that your practice switches 'off' on that day e.g.
Switches off Friday 22nd December and switches back on Wednesday 27th December
Switches off again on Friday 29th December and switches back on Tuesday 2nd January (3rd if in Scotland).
If your practices wants to be switched off over the whole Christmas and New Year period (including the week in-between) then please fill in option A in the form.
If your practice doesn't switch off normally for the weekend and you wish to be switched off during Christmas/New Year please fill in the form below. Your practice can choose to either:
Close completely in-between the Christmas and New Year period (Option A on the form)
Just close for the Bank Holidays and be switched back on in-between the Christmas and New Year period (Option B on the form).
If your practice is looking to switch off over the whole of the Christmas and New Year period (Option A on the form), please see options below.
Switch off for all of Christmas and New Year
The options for switch-off are:
12pm or 6:30pm Thursday 21st December
12pm or 6:30pm Friday 22nd December
The options for switching back on are:
12am, 8am or 12pm Tuesday 2nd January
12am, 8am or 12pm Wednesday 3rd January
If your practice is looking to switch back on in between Christmas and New Year (Option B on the form), please see options below.
Switch off for Christmas
The options for switching-off over Christmas are:
12pm or 6:30pm Thursday 21st December
12pm or 6:30pm Friday 22nd December
The options for switching back on over Christmas are:
12am, 8am or 12pm Wednesday 27th December
Switch off for New Year
The options for switching-off over New Years are:
12pm or 6:30pm Friday 29th December
The options for switching back on over New Years are:
12am, 8am or 12pm Tuesday 2nd January
12am, 8am or 12pm Wednesday 3rd January
During the switch-off period, patients can still access self-help and pharmacy options.
If you have any questions, want to check if you have weekend closure enabled or the above options don't suit please send an email to practice.support@econsult.health and provide the practice name and ODS code with a request for the switch off/on timings you would be interested in and the team will look into if this is possible (it is often dependent on ICB permissions).
If you have any questions or you feel that this article could be improved, please feel free to give us some feedback by emailing us, pressing the emojis below or using the chat button on the bottom right-hand side of this page to speak to one of the eConsult team.