PEOPLE in Easington are being urged to get the right treatment over the festive period.

Health services are usually at their busiest over the winter and health chiefs fear some people may be confused about where to go for help with urgent health problems when their GP surgery is closed.

Those with routine inquiries or matters that are not urgent should wait for the normal opening hours of their own general practice.

In an emergency, people should dial 999 or go to accident and emergency if the injury or illness is life-threatening.

In Easington, patients also have the choice of going to the Peterlee Urgent Care Centre, based in Peterlee Community Hospital.

The centre is staffed 24 hours seven days a week by emergency care practitioners, who are senior nurses and paramedics who have completed further training.

People can attend the centre without an appointment any time of the day or night. The centre is also the base of the out of hours service when GP practices are closed.

Sandra Sah, service manager of the centre from County Durham PCT, said: "Peterlee Urgent Care Centre continues to see more and more people locally. This year, nearly 40,000 local people have been able to get advice for minor and moderate illnesses and injuries such as cuts and wounds, ear, throat and chest infections, fractures and sprains, emergency contraception, without seeing their GP or travelling outside of the district to a casualty department.

"The success of the centre has resulted in a 34 per cent reduction in the number of people attending Hartlepool A&E department. This has helped the hospital trust reduce waiting times and maintain a four-hour waiting time target."

The centre was opened in October 2004 as an out-of-hours centre, and has received national recognition for providing alternatives to traditional urgent care.