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.