Self Care Week is set to return this November and pharmacy teams are encouraged to get involved and raise awareness of the campaign.

Taking place between 16 and 22 November, Self Care Week’s theme this year is ‘Self care for life’ and aims to help people make better use of their community pharmacy and understand what they can do at home to look after their own and their family’s health and live a healthy lifestyle, without the need for GP or A&E visits.

Dr Martin McShane, NHS England’s national medical director for long term conditions, is backing the campaign and says: “Self Care for Life is a vital campaign that looks at health across the spectrum, from coughs, colds and flu to self care for long term conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and lung conditions.

“By supporting people to help themselves, we can not only improve quality of life for individuals but also use NHS services even more effectively, particularly with winter approaching when we all know our A&E services and GPs face huge demands.”

Pharmacy teams can find resources for getting involved in Self Care Week on the Self Care Forum website.