The future of self care in the 21st century NHS

Workshop aim and outcome/objectives : 

To discuss the role of "Self Care" for patients in the future of the NHS:  full and frank discussion regarding safe and effective ways of promotion and  enabling of  patient empowerment, agency and self care, and whether GPs should be doing this at all.     The NHS long-term plan states: “many (but not all) people wish to be more informed and involved with their own care, challenging the traditional divide between patients and professionals, and offering opportunities for better health through increased prevention and supported self-care”.    Indeed it is argued that the whole future of a viable, affordable and efficient NHS depends on supporting and enabling increased levels of appropriate self-care for large number of patients in a safe and effective manner. The NHS, in its current form will simply not be able to be clinically and financially viable with the ever increasing demands and expenses it incurs. Currently the demand on the NHS is overwhelming, and is likely to increase with an ageing and expanding population who have increasing levels of multi-morbidity.   

Format:

Short presentation 10-15, discussion of current research, and then interactive and open discussion and debate in the workshop.   

Content:

Currently there are approximately one million Primary Care appointments a day in the UK, and this is unlikely to increase without a surge in recruitment and training of General Practitioners and nurses. In some parts of the UK 40% of GP posts are unfilled, and with an emerging recruitment crisis in General Practice, it seems unlikely currently that there will be very  large numbers of extra GPs and nurses in the coming years to help to manage this demand. The Government, with the current economic and financial situation in the UK, also seems unlikely to increase overall funding for the NHS, and Primary Care in particular in the coming years, to a significant degree. Part of the reason for the endless demand for medical services, it seems is that over the last few decades there has been a shift from individual responsibility for management of simple ailments, such as self-limiting illness, to professional responsibility for this.     Imperial SCARU (Self Care Academic Research Unit), based at the Department Primary Care and Public Health is the first University unit in the world looking at the totality of self care relating to health, and has formulated the "self care matrix" as a tool and lens to analyse self care interventions.    https://www.imperial.ac.uk/school-public-health/primary-care-and-public-health/research/scaru/    

Intended audience:

All GP and other healthcare professionals and academics working in healthcare