Often, something needs to happen to really make us think. My catalyst for this article was a last-minute phone call to cancel a meeting with one of the HCA board members. Let me set the scene.

I was in a car park in Slough, 30 minutes before my meeting in central London was due to begin. I had blood down the front of my shirt and it wasn’t my blood. That may sound like the opening of a good detective novel, but it was actually the culmination of an eye-opening morning.

It started with a drink with a friend in a café before I went to catch my train. Although we did not see the actual fall, out of the window we saw an elderly gentleman picking himself up off the pavement. We went to his aid and helped him into the coffee shop. He had badly grazed himself and had clearly hurt himself when he fell, as he was experiencing significant pain. The simple solution was to get a first aid kit to clean and cover the wounds and call an ambulance. But, what happened from that point has been the wake-up call. To cut a long story short, the staff of the coffee shop that day were filling in so it took some time to find the first aid kit and the call for the ambulance informed us that it would be at least a three-hour wait. The elderly gentleman was obviously in severe pain and needed to be seen by a healthcare professional, so we became the first aiders and ambulance and were able to deliver him to the nearest overflowing A&E department. Which brings me back to that apologetic call from the car park...

I recount this experience because it has made me consider a couple of things which I hope, by sharing, may stimulate you to further consider the real challenges faced by the NHS and the importance of first aid.

For those working in pharma marketing who are based in the UK, there are many headlines about long waits for ambulances, which readers will clearly recognise as an important, serious issue. However, without experiencing it, do we consider them as just headline-grabbing anomalies, or do we recognise the genuine underlying reality and the implications. And this is similar to the challenges of burgeoning waiting lists, juxtaposed with delayed presentation leading to more severe disease on diagnosis and the extra burden this confers on the NHS. My experience opened my eyes wider and has made me question what we can do to help. Clearly, it’s a massive multifactorial challenge: economic, political and practical.

This is not the place to try to solve all those. But what little things, that are directly in our control, can we do that might help make even a small difference?

Missed appointments, inappropriate presentation at A&E, GP or in the use of ambulances are some examples adding to the burden on NHS resources. We all have budgets or responsibility for communications going to multiple stakeholders and we are often looking for ways to truly partner with our NHS customers. Could we therefore, for example, ensure – where possible – we tailor our communications to discourage inappropriate or avoidable use of NHS services? Could we proactively add general messages supporting these areas in every communication for patients, whatever the topic? Can we, where appropriate, reinforce self-management and the role of pharmacy? Our organisations have immense marketing and communications resources and skills, so can we use these to partner with our NHS customers on related information campaigns? Even during my brief visit to the obviously overloaded A&E, I could hear people with frayed tempers talking to staff. What can we do to help people remember those working in the NHS are doing their best in difficult circumstances and should not be the recipients of what are understandable frustrations? The NHS may be purchasing our products, but more importantly it, and those working in it, are our partners. Anything we can do will support them in helping our friends, families and perhaps ourselves, when needed. I certainly don’t profess to have all the answers, but hope you will consider bringing your innovative thinking and resources to help address these challenges.

My second eye-opener was realising it was a long time since I had any basic first aid training. In spite of the excellent ‘Staying Alive’ TV adverts, it had passed me by that resuscitation now only includes the chest pumps and not mouth-to-mouth. Mental health and well-being has rightly become a focus for organisations and associations like the HCA, and should continue to be championed. But what about first aid? Working in healthcare, surely instinctively that should remain a focus. Do you know who your office first aider is and where the first aid kit is kept? If working from home, do you have an adequate home first aid kit? And are you up to date with the basics of first aid, should the need arise? If nothing else, do you have a good first aid app already downloaded that you could turn to in an emergency (the British Red Cross and St John Ambulance have excellent free apps available that take you through emergency situations step by step)?

In continuing my day-to-day work and life, I will now keep this experience in mind. I hope by sharing my thoughts, you might too.