Self-care

PAGB founded the Self-Care Strategy Group in 2021 to help shape the self-care policy landscape. Its members include representatives from leading pharmacy and healthcare organisations including the Company Chemists’ Association, the National Association of Primary Care, the National Pharmaceutical Association, NHS Clinical Commissioners, the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Self Care Forum. The group is chaired by Dr Graham Jackson, National Clinical Advisor, Elective Programmes, NHS England.

Find out more here: selfcarestrategy.org

In May 2023, the Government and NHS England published a Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care. The plan seeks to empower people by rolling out tools they can use to manage their own health; this will be supported by an investment of up to £645 million over two years to expand services offered by community pharmacies.

As a direct result of our work with the Self-Care Strategy Group and publication of a Blueprint for a national self-care strategy, seven out of nine recommendations in the Blueprint have been included in the primary care recovery plan.

We are continuing to work with the Self-Care Strategy Group to ensure the implementation of the commitments in the plan, and as part of this work, have developed an implementation guide to support its delivery.

Read more about our implementation guide here.

We also support and work with our international colleagues on the promotion of self-care on a global level. PAGB’s self-care policy priorities are addressed in the Global Self-Care Federation’s Global Self-care Readiness Index – an in-depth analysis of self-care data in countries around the world. The Index is a practical tool to help policymakers better understand and recognise the enablers of self-care: stakeholder support; consumer empowerment; health policy; and the regulatory environment.

As part of our promotion of self-care internationally, in May 2024 we joined he Latin-American Association of Responsible Self-Care (ILAR), a co-member of the Global Self-Care Federation, on a webinar to discuss the regulation of food supplements in Latin America. We shared an overview of the UK food supplement regulatory landscape with representatives from relevant authorities from twelve Latin American countries.

Additionally, in 2023, we took part in a webinar hosted by our counterparts in Ireland, a podcast interview with the Austrian consumer health trade association, and participated in an information sharing mission with the Brazilian medicines regulator and trade association. We also support our members in sharing the self-care message with their global colleagues.