Self-care

We promote self-care to empower individuals to take responsibility for their health and well-being. On this page you’ll find more information about self-care, our latest updates and our resources for members.

What is self-care?

 

Self-care is the actions that people take for themselves and their families to: 

  • Promote and maintain good health 
  • Promote and maintain wellbeing 
  • Take care of their self-treatable conditions 

Self-care is not the absence of care. It does not have to be practised in isolation and it may involve support and advice from others, such as expert pharmacy teams. 

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Leaders in self-care

At PAGB, we have long argued in favour of measures to prioritise self-care, increase education and awareness and support people’s confidence to practice self-care for self-treatable conditions.

By working closely with our members, organisations across the healthcare sector and policy makers we successfully secured national self-care policy in May 2023. Following the publication of the Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, we are now committed to supporting the implementation of the self-care policies within the plan  

Self-care in numbers

64 million

64 million

people in the UK will experience at least one self-treatable condition a year

Average of 5

Average of 5

the number of self-treatable conditions people experience each year

61 million

61 million

people in the UK use OTCs each year to treat self-treatable conditions

5 extra days

5 extra days

worked each year as a result of OTC use

Self Care Report

Read our self-care survey report

Our 2023 report, titled ‘Take care of yourself and the NHS’, details the latest data on self-care and explores the challenges and benefits of patients taking a more proactive approach to care for common health conditions.

We surveyed over 5,000 people in the UK to understand consumer attitudes to self-care; this is our largest survey to date. The findings were launched during Self-Care Week in the UK and secured over 200 pieces of coverage, including double-page spreads in the Sunday Express, Sunday Mirror, Sunday People and Daily Record, as well as pharmaceutical trade press.

Consumer confidence

Only 51%

Only 51%

of people feel confident in treating backache

39%

39%

of people have requested a GP appointment for self-treatable conditions

Only 60%

Only 60%

of people use their pharmacist as a first step in seeking advice or medicine for self-treatable conditions

8%

8%

of people go to A&E for self-treatable conditions

Watch our video: PAGB – the expert voice on self-care

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The social and economic impact of self-care

In July 2023, we launched a groundbreaking new report detailing the economic value of the over-the-counter sector. The findings showed that the UK OTC sector saves the NHS £6.4 billion of prescription and appointment costs each year. 

The report also demonstrates the value of encouraging people to take a more proactive approach to their health by widening the scope of how they self-care. These changes could save the NHS over £1.7 billion a year by eliminating 25 million unnecessary GP appointments and five million avoidable visits to A&E. 

Watch a recording of our webinar on the economic impact of over-the-counter products in the UK

Research and reports

Unleashing the potential of digital tools to support self-care (September 2023)

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The economic impact of over-the-counter medicines in the UK (July 2023)

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Empowering people to self-care: a toolkit for Primary Care Networks (May 2023)

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PAGB’s Vision for Digital Self-Care (February 2023)

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Taking care, taking control: Self-Care Attitudes 2022 (November 2022)

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Self-care pathway infographic (May 2022)

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Realising the potential. Developing a blueprint for a self-care strategy for England (October 2021)

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Self-care survey 2020 (February 2021)

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Implementation of the delivery plan for recovering access to primary care

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