Useful Links
Treat Yourself Better
A major new consumer campaign, ‘Treat Yourself Better’ without antibiotics was launched by Pharmacy Voice and PAGB at the Annual Self Care Conference on 12th November 2013.
The campaign urges people to self-treat winter ailments such as coughs and colds rather than going to the GP and asking for antibiotics which are ineffective in treating the symptoms of viral infections.
Research indicates that people often give up on the self-treatment of common winter ailments because the symptoms last longer than they expect. The campaign therefore aims to educate people on how long such symptoms should typically last for and provide advice on what people can do to better treat themselves with pharmacy support to help prevent unnecessary visits to the GP surgery or A&E department.
To understand better the symptom duration of cold and flu a new informative website,www.treatyourselfbetter.co.uk, has been developed that features a symptom checker and warning signs support material, to help people understand how long symptoms could last for and when it is appropriate to seek medical assistance.
The campaign is supported by a wide range of organisations including the Department of Health, Public Health England (through European Antibiotic Awareness Day), NICE, the community pharmacy trade associations and over-the-counter medicines manufacturers.
Unnecessary GP and A&E visits for winter ailments could cost the NHS over £343 million.
Nearly half who visit the GP for common winter ailments do so because they want antibiotics.
Younger generation are the biggest culprits for wasting GP time.
Only one in five make use of their local pharmacy despite long GP waiting times.
Feeling under the weather?
A new campaign called 'The earlier, the better' has been launched to encourage people to seek help early from their local pharmacist if they’re feeling under the weather.
The campaign urges older people to seek early advice from their pharmacist or from NHS Choices for minor winter illnesses before they develop into something worse.
If you're over 60 and feeling unwell, it's best to get help as soon as possible.Whether it's a chesty cough, trouble breathing, a cold or sore throat, you can get advice in person from your local pharmacist or online at www.nhs.uk/asap.
Your local pharmacist is fully qualified to provide health advice. No problem is too small - your pharmacist wants to help. Early advice is the best advice.
The campaign aims to reduce pressure on the NHS urgent and emergency care system during the winter of 2014/15. Its focus is to influence changes in pubic behaviour, whilst also raising awareness, to help reduce the number of elderly and frail people requiring emergency admissions through urgent and emergency care services, particularly A &E departments, with illness that could have been effectively managed through earlier access to health advice and self-care information from community pharmacy services or NHS choices. The campaign therefore has a clear call to action to seek advice early from a local pharmacist.
Be Clear on Cancer
Be Clear on Cancer campaigns aim to improve early diagnosis of cancer by raising public awareness of signs and/or symptoms of cancer, and to encourage people to see their GP without delay. The programme is led by Public Health England, working in partnership with the Department of Health and NHS England. Each campaign is tested locally and then regionally, with a view to rolling them out nationally if they prove to be effective.
Which cancers are covered by the Be Clear on Cancer brand?
Be Clear on Cancer has been developed for bowel, lung, breast, blood in urine (as a symptom of bladder and kidney cancer), oesophago-gastric and ovarian cancers. An additional breast cancer campaign specifically for women over 70 years and a cancer symptoms campaign called 'Know 4 sure' have also been developed.
Why has the Be Clear on Cancer programme been developed?
The Be Clear on Cancer programme has been developed in response to the Department of Health's 'Improving Outcomes - A strategy for Cancer', which set out how it will seek to achieve the ambition to prevent 5,000 deaths from cancer per year by 2014/15, bringing survival rates in England up to average for Europe. The Government's strategy for cancer includes a range of actions to improve cancer outcomes, including:
Reducing the incidence of cancers that are preventable by making lifestyle changes.
Improving the uptake of screening and introducing new screening programmes, where there is evidence to justify them.
Achieving earlier diagnosis of cancer, to increase the scope for successful treatment.
Making sure that all patients have access to the best possible treatment, care and support.
Seeing your doctor early makes all the difference.
You’re not wasting anyone’s time by getting your symptoms checked out and, if it’s not serious, your mind will be put at rest. Early detection makes it easier to treat. Seeing your doctor early could save your life.
For more information please visit the 'Be Clear on Cancer' website.
Smoking Advice
Smoking is still the biggest cause of preventable death and disease in England.
NHS Smokefree is the national campaign for England, funded by the Department of Health, providing motivation, information and support for smokers who want to quit.
The Smokefree Resource Centre has all the information you need on the campaign, as well as a wide range of resources to help you help others quit smoking, including information on our latest campaigns and news about what’s coming up.
You can also register for the site to download and order free materials or sign up for our regular bulletin to keep up to date with the latest news.
Action on smoking and health (ASH) is a public health charity which campaigns to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco. ASH was established in 1971 (20 January) by the Royal College of Physicians.