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