Self-Care Strategy Group calls for expansion of prescribing rights

The Group urges Wes Streetingto maximise self-care benefitsto strengthen NHS and reduce pressure on GPs

The Self-Care Strategy Group (SCSG), comprising of leading pharmacy groups, professional organisations, trade associations and charities committed to self-care, has written to Wes Streeting MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, urging the government to fully realise the benefits of self-care and work collaboratively to build an NHS fit for the future.

In its letter, the SCSG has outlined several key proposals including:

• Expansion of prescribing rights.
• Optimisation of digital health tools such as the NHS App.
• Enabling direct referrals between primary, diagnostic and specialist care services
• Widening access to self-care medicines in pharmacies.
• Training Primary Care Network (PCN) staff to support patients in navigating the care system.
• Promoting credible health information on self-care and expanding public awareness campaigns

Dr Graham Jackson, a GP and Chair of SCSG, expressed concerns over the unprecedented pressures on the NHS and primary care, cautioning that these challenges are likely to increase without urgent action.

He emphasised the importance of collaborating with the Health Secretary and the government to unleash the full benefits of selfcare and build an NHS fit for the future.

The letter reads: “As you will be aware, self-care for minor and self-treatable conditions is a vital tool in managing capacity within primary and emergency care settings.

“With the NHS requiring significant investment to reduce waiting lists, improve diagnostic capacity and tackle the workforce crisis, cost-efficient means of relieving capacity in GP practices and A&E departments, as well as across primary care, are clearly needed.

“Self-care offers one solution to this problem, enabling systemic change to the UK’s approach to healthcare, including in deprived and rural communities.”

In 2021, the Self-Care Strategy Group released a comprehensive blueprint for a national self-care strategy, which included nine recommendations aimed at enhancing support and promotion of self-care in England.

The recommendations range from improving health literacy in the school curriculum and modernising digital health infrastructure to empowering pharmacists and widening patient access to self-care medicines through reclassification.

The Group has welcomed the NHS's progress in implementing self-care policies that improved access to pharmacy and primary care navigation. However, they noted that there is still significant potential to fully capitalize on the benefits of self-care.

“In line with your manifesto commitments, we believe opportunities exist to expand prescribing rights, optimise digital health tools (such as the NHS App), and enable direct referrals between primary, diagnostic and specialist care services – but also that there is potential to go further.

“By widening access to self-care medicines in pharmacies, training Primary Care Network (PCN) staff to support patients in navigating the care system, promoting credible health information and expanding public awareness campaigns, the benefits of self-care could be fully realised,” they wrote.

The group sought the opportunity to meet with Streeting to discuss how self-care can assist the government in alleviating pressure on GPs and A&E departments and serve as the foundation for a future-ready NHS.