Pharmacy can play a part in emergency care networks

摘要

INCREASED public awareness about the role community pharmacists can play in supporting patient self-care and health promotion would help take the pressure off overstretched accident and emergency departments, according to a report published by the NHS Confederation earlier this week. National initiatives like the current "Earlier the better" campaign run by NHS England, which suggests patients should visit their community pharmacist and seek advice from NHS Choices before going to A&E, are a step in the right direction, the report says. GPs should also have up-to-date information about other local health services that promote and offer preventive healthcare or self-care, it recommends. But public awareness campaigns about better self-help and community-based health services are not enough to change public behaviour, it says.