Skip to content

This Site is Intended for Healthcare Professionals Only

Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Self-Care Strategy Group welcomes new government with calls to support self-care

Self-Care Strategy Group welcomes new government with calls to support self-care
Leading consumer healthcare association, PAGB advocates for enhanced self-care strategies emphasising community health empowerment and sustainable healthcare solutions along with other members of Self-care Strategy Group

The Self-Care Strategy Group (SCSG) has written to Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, urging the new Labour government to fully realize self-care's benefits.

With PAGB serving as the secretariat for the Group, signatories of the letter also include CPE, RPS, CCA, NPA, the Dispensing Doctors’ Association, the National Association of Primary Care, the Patient Information Forum, and the Self Care Forum.


The nine members highlight the importance of collaborative efforts to build an NHS fit for the future.

In the letter, the group emphasises the potential of self-care to alleviate pressure on primary and emergency healthcare services.

They call for expanded prescribing rights, optimised digital health tools, and streamlined referral processes between primary, diagnostic, and specialist care services.

The SCSG also recommends widening access to self-care medicines in pharmacies and enhancing public awareness campaigns to promote credible health information on self-care.

The blueprint for a national self-care strategy, published in 2021, outlined recommendations to better support and encourage self-care in England.

Seven out of the nine recommendations were incorporated into the government’s 2023 Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care.

The SCSG has proposed a formal meeting with Wes Streeting to discuss how self-care can help reduce pressure on GPs and A&E departments.

They believe this will form the foundation of a sustainable healthcare system.

The group expressed readiness to support the government in implementing further policies to capitalise on the benefits of self-care.

More For You

A woman using a period tracker app

Cambridge University academics have flagged concerns over the safety of period tracker apps

Pic credit: iStock

Users of period tracking apps face privacy, safety risk, say experts

The report said the apps provide a "gold mine" of data for consumer profiling and warn that in the wrong hands it could pose a safety risk

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY academics have flagged concerns over the safety of period tracker apps and warned that the women using them could face privacy and safety risks.

Keep ReadingShow less
Patients to get test results via NHS app

An investment of £50m has been made to upgrade the NHS app

Patients to get test results via NHS app

Millions of patients will now be able to access test results and get appointment reminders on their smartphones as the government tries to position the NHS app as the default mode of communication and steer away from traditional methods like letters.

An investment of £50m has been made to upgrade the NHS app and the health service hopes to save £200m over the next three years.

Keep ReadingShow less
Health minister assures House of Lords on measures to tackle UK-wide Creon drug shortage

Baroness Merron

Government taking steps to mitigate shortage of cancer drug Creon

Baroness Merron on Monday (9) assured the House of Lords that the government is taking measures to mitigate the shortage of pancreatic cancer drug Creon across the country.

Raising the issue, Baroness Margaret Ritchie wanted to know about the steps being taken by the government to ease the misery of patients suffering from pancreatic cancer.

Keep ReadingShow less
Janet Morrison: "Eventual outcome of spending review needs to tackle pharmacy underfunding"

Janet Morrison

Janet Morrison: "Eventual outcome of spending review needs to tackle pharmacy underfunding"

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) chief executive Janet Morrison has welcomed chancellor Rachel Reeves announcement today that day-to-day spending on the NHS will increase by £29bn a year but insisted that it must reflect in securing the future of pharmacy.

Reeves also revealed that the government will be increasing the NHS technology budget by almost 50 per cent, with £10bn of investment to "bring our analogue health system into the digital age, including through the NHS app".

Keep ReadingShow less
Lynsey Cleland named GPhC chief standards officer

Lynsey Cleland

Pic credit: X

Lynsey Cleland named GPhC chief standards officer

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has brought back Lynsey Cleland to lead on a number of important departments in the role of chief standards officer.

Cleland had previously held a number of senior positions at GPhC, including director of Scotland.

Keep ReadingShow less