Encouraging and enabling self care has been for many years a goal shared by numerous organisations across the health system.

In October 2019, that common objective brought together a group of those organisations whose initial aim was to agree a shared view of self care among the clinical community.

We discussed, we debated and ultimately we published our consensus statement on self care, which included a series of recommendations headed by the call for a national self care strategy.

It felt like a significant moment. We had worked together constructively and collaboratively; now we would push as far as possible for the adoption of our proposals.

A few months later, the world – and the world of healthcare – came face to face with COVID-19.

It became obvious very quickly that the pandemic would affect NHS services in almost every conceivable way, as well as reinforcing the case for more widespread effective, appropriate self care.

We recognised the need to revisit and update our consensus statement in recognition of those changes. We could not possibly ignore, for example, the speed and scale at which the NHS adopted a raft of digital services, or the co-ordinated effort to ensure people seeking online information about COVID-19 were directed towards reliable sources.

Both were key to realising our vision of a health system that helps more people to self care, thereby reducing heath inequalities and improving outcomes.

We were witnessing shifts in policy and behaviour that could unlock the door to more and better self care, and we did not want that opportunity to pass.

But we were also acutely aware that drafting a national self care strategy was unlikely to take priority for ministers and policymakers during a global pandemic – however genuine their support for the value and benefits of that proposition.

The answer to the problem, in the end, was an obvious one. As a group, we went back to the table, this time not simply to call for a national self care strategy but to create our own blueprint for that strategy.

I am delighted to have played a part in its inception and I look forward to working further alongside the consensus group and others towards the adoption of a national self care strategy.

Download the blueprint self care strategy

Self care is not ‘no care’. It is an important but often overlooked part of the primary care pathway. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic there were 18 million GP appointments and 3.7 million visits to A&E for self-treatable conditions, which could have been managed at home with support and advice from a pharmacist. Over the last 18 months, the COVID-19 ‘stay at home’ message has shown people that they can self care for minor ailments. We need to enable them to continue to do so now the restrictions have eased.

PAGB is really proud to have been involved in the development of the blueprint self care strategy, which sets out how self care can and should be embedded in the NHS to improve health outcomes and protect the future of our health service. Empowering more people to self care is a key priority for the consumer healthcare industry and I look forward to working with our partners, and with Government and NHS policy makers to facilitate a move towards a holistic, system-wide approach to self care.

Neil Lister is Vice President International and Managing Director UK and Ireland at Perrigo plc
He is President of PAGB, the consumer healthcare association

Effective healthcare calls for collaboration. Whether it’s between a patient and a healthcare professional, colleagues across medical specialties or different NHS institutions, teamwork is key.

Self care, despite its name, is no different. Individuals don’t learn by osmosis to take control of their own health and wellbeing. No-one knows instinctively how to self-treat a headache or a sore throat. It’s a process that involves education, experience and support.

And at a time when the NHS is under pressure as never before, we should be doing all we can to empower people to practise self care, if that’s the best and most appropriate option for them.

That’s why I’m immensely proud that PAGB, the consumer healthcare association, is part of a coalition setting out new and detailed proposals for the creation of a national self care strategy.

The document, “Realising the potential: Developing a blueprint for a self care strategy for England”, is itself the product of team work, drawn up in partnership with NHS Clinical Commissioners, the Royal College of Nursing, the National Association of Primary Care, the National Pharmacy Association, the Self Care Forum, the Company Chemists Association, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies.

It’s the culmination of a project that began in earnest in October 2019, when PAGB joined representatives of medical royal colleges, professional organisations and trade associations at a round table discussion at Westminster.  Out of that meeting came a clinical consensus statement underlining the importance of self care, the role of healthcare professionals in supporting it and the need for a new policy approach to embed it fully into our health system. Almost two years on (and what a two years they have been), we have gone a step further.

Our joint blueprint offers a far-reaching vision of self care at the heart of our health system, certainly, but it also sets out the practical ways in which we can realise that vision as quickly as possible in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It calls for better use of assets that already exist, including digital technology, the expertise of community pharmacists and effective medicines for self-treatable conditions. It suggests hands-on ways in which we can improve understanding of self care – for example, by teaching it in schools and including it in healthcare professionals’ training. And it highlights projects around the country that are already encouraging and supporting self care, freeing up NHS resources such as GP appointments for those who are most in need of expert medical attention.

So we are not seeking reinvention of the wheel. We hope instead to help navigate those in the driving seat towards a place where self care is a core part of the primary care pathway, improving health outcomes and protecting the future of our NHS.

 

PAGB, the consumer healthcare association, represents the manufacturers of branded OTC medicines, self care medical devices and food supplements in the UK.