White Paper

This paper, Self Care: An Ethical Imperative produced by the Self Care Campaign group, presents the results of research that reveal the catastrophic impact the dependency and demand-led culture is having on the NHS. Seeing a GP for ailments that can be self-treated is estimated to cost an astonishing £2bn* every year.

The Self Care Campaign manifesto is calling on all political parties to support the campaign at an individual, local and national level and to:

• allow people to be confident in their self care choices
• enable healthcare professionals, especially the GP and practice nurse, to offer support in making people feel confident enough to use the NHS at the point of need, not demand
• introduce a social marketing campaign to educate people to understand and manage minor ailments with the right information so that GPs' and practice nurses' time is freed up to look after more complex conditions
• ensure children are educated through the national curriculum to understand health issues and how to use the NHS effectively and appropriately

* Minor ailment workload in general practice; December 2007; IMS Health.