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Sample Press Release – Community Pharmacy
Self Care for Life – With help from the health expert on the High Street
To mark Self Care Week 2015 (16 – 22 November) [organisation name] want to highlight the health
expert on the High Street – the community pharmacist.
Did you know that pharmacists are expert healthcare professionals who can give advice and
recommend treatments for minor health conditions such as coughs, colds, sore throats and
childhood fever?
There are currently 52 million GP appointments and 3.7m A&E visits for minor ailments, conditions
which people could have treated at home or with pharmacists’ advice.
[Local pharmacist / GP] “People go to the doctor with a minor ailment because they are unsure how
long symptoms last and need reassurance that it isn’t anything more serious. Before booking an
appointment at your local surgery, it is worthwhile going to your local pharmacist first.
“The pharmacist can explain the normal duration of ailments and give advice on symptom relief. It is
also worth remembering that you don’t need antibiotics for colds and flu, in fact, taking them can
reduce their effectiveness when taken for ailments they can help with.”
In the UK most people are only 20 minutes away from the expert on the High Street who can also
offer help to stop smoking, weight management, medicines reviews as well as cholesterol and blood
pressure checks; and many pharmacies even have private consulting rooms.
So, before booking a GP appointment or waiting hours at A&E, visit your pharmacist who can help
you Self Care for Life.
Self Care Week is 16 – 22 November, why not join us [add information here about your Self Care
Week programme of activities].
Notes to editors:
1. Self Care Week takes place 16-22 November 2015 and has the theme “Self care for life.”
2. Self Care Week is a yearly campaign to raise awareness about the benefits of self care and
what people can do to take better care of their own health and their family’s health. The
point of the campaign is to promote and encourage more self care across communities,
families and generations.
3. Information Resources:
http://www.selfcareforum.org/fact-sheets/ (Self Care Forum fact sheets)
http://www.treatyourselfbetter.co.uk/ (Treat Yourself Better website)
http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/Yourhealth/Pages/self-care-week-2015.aspx NHS Choices)
http://antibioticguardian.com/ (Antibiotics Guardian)
http://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research/target-antibiotics-toolkit/patient-informationleaflets.aspx (Antibiotics Awareness)
http://www.nhs.uk/staywell/ (Stay Well this Winter campaign)
4. Internal contact details for journalists