Self care is about looking after yourself in a healthy way. It can be anything from brushing your teeth, doing some exercise, managing
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common conditions (also called minor ailments) like headaches, colds and flu or living with a long-term health problem, such as
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asthma or diabetes.
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Did you know that one in five GP visits are for common conditions, such as backache, headache or cough?
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For most people, these common conditions are not serious health problems – you just want to know how to relieve it and you want
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a treatment that acts fast. You also want to know how long you're going to suffer or, what you should do if your symptoms change.
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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
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see your GP and can get on with tackling your symptoms. Self care for common conditions can also help free up some of your GP's
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time, making it easier to get an appointment when you have a more serious condition.
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| Click here to view a video about self care |
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Did you know? |
- One in every five GP visits are for common conditions, such as backache, headache or cough.
- Many patients visits their GP or Accident and Emergency department with common conditions which could have been treated with advice from their community pharmacist.
- Every time you see a GP it costs the NHS £36 on average.
- A visit to Accident and Emergency can cost up to £130.
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How self care helps your local NHS |
Many common conditions can be treated at home with the support of your local pharmacy if needed. Over the counter products for
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self care are things like pain relief and cough and cold remedies. These items can be bought from pharmacies, supermarkets and
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discount stores without a prescription. You can get them without an appointment or seeing a doctor. They are also often cheaper
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this way.
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- You will help ease the pressure on NHS services for common conditions that could be managed at home.
- You can help free up some of your GP or nurse's time, making it easier to get an appointment when you have a more serious or complex condition.
- You will help to reduce the amount spent by your local NHS on medicines that are available over the counter.
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Locally NHS East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen CCG no longer supports the routine prescribing of medications for common
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conditions such as acute (short-term) illnesses, minor and/or self-limiting conditions such as headache, coughs and colds. We want to
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encourage and empower patients to self care.
"People have a responsibility to protect their own health, choosing appropriate treatments and managing long-term
| | conditions. In many cases people can take care of their minor ailments, reducing the number of GP consultations and allowing GPs t | to focus on caring for more poorly patients, such as those with co-morbidities (more than one illness), the very young and elderly,
| managing long-term conditions and providing new services.
| | A large range of common illnesses and injuries can be treated at home simply with over-the- counter medicines and plenty of rest." | | | You can find out more about the conditions for which over the counter medicines will no longer be prescribed in the our local guidance available here.
| | | Looking after you and your family. How ready are you? |
Click here to view the self-care video
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Common Childhood Illnesses & Well-being |
<Click Here> to access the resource online or <here> to download the PDF version
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Every parent or carer wants to know what to do when a child is ill - use this resource to learn how to care for your child at home,
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when to call a GP and when to contact emergency services.
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Most of the problems you will come up against are simply an everyday part of growing up, often helped with a chat with your
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midwife, health visitor or pharmacist. Almost all babies, toddlers and children will get the most common childhood illnesses like
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| chickenpox, colds, sore throats and ear infections. While these are not very nice at the time they are easy to treat by your GP or at |
home with the support from a GP or health visitor rather than an unnecessary trip to A&E.
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This resource helps point you in the right direction and explains what you can do at home to help, or where you need to go to get
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assistance and advice. It has been put together with help from healthcare professionals. If you are worried you must get further
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advice. Trust your instincts, you know your child better than anybody else.
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This resource also contains general welfare information which will help you keep you and your child safe and healthy.
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Ask your pharmacist for advice |
Your local pharmacist can give you friendly, expert advice on self care of common conditions. They can recommend over-the-counter
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medicines that can help with lots of common conditions.
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Many pharmacies are open during evenings and weekends so you can see your local pharmacist anytime. Just walk in, you don't
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need an appointment. You can have a confidential consultation with the pharmacist in a private area of the pharmacy.
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If your condition needs the attention of a GP or another healthcare professional, the pharmacist will recognise this. They will advise
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you to see your GP or the most appropriate healthcare professional.
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You can find your nearest pharmacy on the NHS Choices website
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Find out more about self care for common conditions |
We have produced a series of information leaflets to help you take care of the most common conditions. These provide useful facts
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about your condition, what you can expect to happen, how to help yourself, when you should see your GP and where to find out
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more information.
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Research shows people using these information leaflets felt more able to manage their common condition.
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| Self-care Patient information leaflet |
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| Click on the link for the information leaflet you need: |
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| For information about what to keep in your medicines cabinet <click here> | |
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