Doctors and pharmacists call for basic healthcare lessons so pupils don’t bother the NHS

Pupils should learn what health problems they must not bother the NHS with, doctors and pharmacists have said.

In a new strategy paper they call for a “wholesale cultural shift” towards more self-care, insisting this could both empower patients and reduce demand.

Conditions like lower back pain, the common cold and acute sinusitis can generally be treated without the need for GPs or hospital visits, experts said.

They called for the national curriculum to include requirements for both primary and secondary pupils to be taught to treat and manage common health problems at home. Medical students or pharmacists could go into school to offer lessons on “self-care techniques and signposting to appropriate use of NHS services”, they said.

The paper is from the Self-Care Strategy Group, a coalition of pharmacy bodies and GP and patient groups.

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Source: The Times, 9 January 2023