On Friday 9th October, NHS England and NHS Improvement, together with Public Health England, launched the first phase of the latest ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign – ‘NHS Access’ – which will address the barriers that are deterring patients from accessing the NHS across priority services.

COVID-19 has changed the way that people are accessing NHS services. A recent survey of 2,178 people found that almost half (48%) of the public would delay or not seek medical help at all. A fifth (22%) would not want to burden the NHS, and a similar proportion said that fear of getting coronavirus or passing it onto others was a major reason for not getting help.

The Access phase of the ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign aims to encourage the public to contact their GP if they are worried about a symptom that could be cancer (such as unexplained blood, a lump, or weight loss).  The campaign will also encourage those who are already being treated for a health issue to keep their routine appointments and those experiencing mental health issues to access NHS services and support.

The NHS has introduced a range of measures to ensure the safety of patients, including COVID-secure wards and phone and digital appointments, and the ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign will help to reassure patients that the NHS can help them safely.

The campaign will launch with brand new advertising, posters, partnership activity, PR, social media and specific Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and disability groups’ communications targeted to the reach the appropriate audiences.