Influencing a new government

With a general election fast approaching, PAGB has been engaging with parties from across the political spectrum to keep the self-care high on the political agenda. We have developed an election toolkit and a self-care manifesto which details PAGB’s key asks:

Self-care manifesto

Ahead of the general election, we are keen to meet with all parties to share our expertise in the areas of self-care that we outline in our manifesto and ensure that self-care is considered and incorporated into all planning on how we solve the challenges facing primary care within the NHS going forward. Read our Self-Care Manifesto to find out more about our calls to a future Government. In short, these include:

Election toolkit

We have also developed an Election Toolkit to support our members with their engagement with MPs, government bodies and prospective parliamentary candidates on policy priorities. The toolkit outlines the case for prioritising self-care, highlighting public interest, the cost savings to the NHS and the economic benefits of the over-the-counter (OTC) sector.

It puts forward recommendations on behalf of the consumer healthcare industry on how to realise the potential of self-care and create a supportive environment to best implement self-care and ‘Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care’. 

Read our Election Toolkit. Tailored party specific Toolkits are also available in the members area.

The key asks outlined include: 

Implementing self-care policy

In May 2023, the Government and NHS England published the ‘Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care’. As a direct result of our work with the Self-Care Strategy Group, the plan includes self-care policies which seek to empower people by rolling out tools they can use to manage their own health.

We are working with the Self-Care Strategy Group to ensure the implementation of the commitments in the plan. Together we have developed a number of tools to help support the Government and NHS England to deliver these self-care policies.

Consumer attitudes to self-care

Every year PAGB undertakes a survey to understand consumer attitudes and confidence to self-care. The data from the survey is used to inform our self-care report and this year our survey results were published on International Self-Care Day, 24 July.

Conducting this yearly census to uncover consumer trends in self-treatable conditions, attitudes to self-care, and healthcare access provides us with valuable information and insights into how self-care can be integrated into the recovery of primary care in a real way that resonates with consumers.

The report highlights the real-world data that makes the case for prioritising self-care and identifies the benefits it can provide by reducing demand on the NHS, reducing health inequalities among the public, and empowering people to take ownership of their own health.

Read the full report here.