You may remember last months healthcare news included headlines such as “Minor Ailments Costing NHS £2bn A Year”. The articles which related to a letter to The Times detailed 51.4 million unnecessary consultations each year and common conditions accounting for one fifth of GP appointments. The conclusion: self-care and a shift in behaviour around treating minor ailments could save the NHS money without making cuts.

IDS UK has for many years advocated the benefits of patient education, and has seen that patient self care materials including leaflets and posters prove very popular. Good examples of such materials include Nurofen’s leaflet, “A Parent’s Guide To Coping With Everyday Childhood Illness”, which provides basic information about common illness and directs parents to seek medical advice when necessary; and “Take Control of Your Cholesterol” a Benecol leaflet encouraging healthy lifestyle changes.

The articles caused little surprise at IDS as the need for patient education literature makes a constant appearance in surgery and patient feedback. IDS UK is able to provide advice on the design and copy of such literature, and is able to effectively distribute it so it reaches the intended recipients. Let’s hope that the Self Care Campaign that has been launched as a result of the original letter is able free up surgery staff to concentrate on complex conditions. We would like to think that IDS UK already helps to do this.