Dr Sarah Jarvis GP

Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP

Self-care is a valuable life skill which makes a real and positive difference to the way people are able to navigate common minor health problems. The pandemic, and the pressures on the NHS which persist as a result, have highlighted the need for all of us to understand when and how self-care is appropriate.

There is a clear desire among the public to practise self-care in order to help themselves and relieve pressure on the NHS – but they need to feel able and supported to self care when that’s the best option for them.

We need to empower individuals to recognise and manage self-treatable symptoms quickly and effectively, with advice from a pharmacist where necessary but without the need for a GP consultation.

Embedding the role of the pharmacist as a key and integral part of the primary healthcare team can empower patients and make the best use of the invaluable skills of our community pharmacy colleagues. This blueprint for a national self care strategy recognises the urgent need to make the best use of the resources available to us by incorporating an enhanced role for pharmacists.

I very much hope the blueprint will attract the support it deserves across the NHS and beyond, and that those projects already operating to support and encourage self-care can serve as inspiration for a more systematic approach.