Self Care
What is Self Care? |
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Self-care is about keeping fit and healthy, understanding when you can look after yourself, when a pharmacist can help, and when to get advice from your GP or another health professional. If you have a long-term condition, self-care is about understanding that condition and how to live with it. |
Why is Self Care Important? |
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Self Care is important because it empowers people with confidence and information to look after themselves when they can, and only visit the GP or other health services when they need to. |
| It also gives people greater control of their own health and encourages healthy behaviours that help prevent ill health in the long-term. In many cases people can take care of their minor ailments, reducing the number of GP consultations and enabling GPs to focus on caring for higher risk patients, such as those with comorbidities, the very young and elderly, managing long-term conditions and providing new services. |
| More cost-effective use of stretched NHS resources allows money to be spent where it’s most needed and improve health outcomes. Furthermore, increased personal responsibility around healthcare helps improve people’s health and wellbeing and better manage long-term conditions when they do develop. This will ultimately ensure the long-term sustainability of the NHS. |
Self Care for Common Conditions |
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One in five GP visits are for common conditions, such as backache, headache or cough. For most people, these are not serious health problems. Many people just want to know how to relieve their symptoms and want a treatment that acts fast. The good news is that self care can help you manage most of these problems. It may mean you don’t have to spend time waiting to see your GP but can start tackling your symptoms straight away. Self care for common conditions can also help free up some of your GP’s time, making it easier to get an appointment when you have a more serious condition. |
| Below are some factsheets about common conditions that you can use to help in the management of your condition. They can inform you of useful facts, what you can do to help yourself and when to seek medical help. |
| Acne |
| Common Cold |
| Conjunctivitis |
| Constipation |
| Cough |
| Eczema |
| Fever in Children |
| Headache and Migraine |
| Heartburn and Indigestion |
| Long Covid |
| Low Back Pain |
| Menopause |
| Middle Ear Infection in Children |
| Sinusitis |
| Sore Throat |
| Strains and Sprains |
| Strep A and Scarlet Fever |
| Urinary Incontinence |
| Urine Symptoms in Men |
| Venouse Disease |
| Winter Illness |