The NHS is under enormous pressure. We knew this would be the case from the outset of the coronavirus pandemic. For this reason, one of the first steps we took was to inform the public that there was no treatment for covid-19 and they would have to look after themselves at home.
It is remarkable how quickly the British public took this message on board. Tens of thousands of people simply stayed at home - coughing, feverish and breathless - and looked after themselves with a potentially fatal illness. This was achieved in a matter of weeks despite the fact that this was an entirely new and entirely terrifying illness.
This is in such stark contrast to a usual winter where it remains a continual battle to convince people that they don’t need antibiotics for their sore throat, ear ache or cough.
It is standard practice in the UK to educate our children whilst they are school about sexual health and drugs use. These interventions have been shown to improve outcomes and are no doubt of great value. Why then don’t we extend this education to other health topics?
These education programmes focus on lifestyle choices but there are numerous other health complaints that effect us all, regardless of lifestyle, that we don’t teach our children about. Simple things like viral illness or musculoskeletal injuries like sprained ankles. This sounds trivial but many people don't know what to do when these things happen. Their natural course of action then is to seek advice from their doctor or pharmacist.
Why do we not pre-empt the need for this advice by actually teaching our children about these things? We have a socialised health care system that, in part, relies on the population to use it wisely to stop it becoming overwhelmed so providing this education is in everyone’s interest.
Taken on a nationwide basis, dealing with these minor problems absorbs a lot of time, energy and financial resource. Could all this be saved by teaching people how to manage their own conditions and teaching them when they really do need to ask for help?
I personally feel that we can’t criticise people for seeking healthcare unnecessarily if we haven’t equipped them to look after themselves. Interest in health and disease has probably never been higher so this might be the moment to start a concerted campaign to educate our population. Yes, the NHS is under extraordinary pressure at the moment but it is always under significant pressure. Public health education on minor illness would be one way to ease the pressure in the future.