Britons are becoming “do-it-yourself doctors” as thousands of people are unable to book a face-to-face appointment with a doctor, research has found.
Young people are more likely to try to do something good for themselves; Last year, one in five (22 percent) people aged 18 to 34 did so.
Of those who had unsuccessfully tried to see their GP in the last 12 months, one in seven (14 per cent) carried out the treatment themselves or had someone else do it who was not a healthcare professional.
More than one in five (21 percent) bought medicine online or in a pharmacy without consulting a doctor, and one in three (33 percent) put off visiting their GP despite pain.
One in seven (16%) sought help at an emergency department, and almost three in ten (29%) people stopped visiting their NHS GP altogether.
Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of people have tried to get a face-to-face appointment with a GP in their area in the past 12 months without success. In Scotland, 17 per cent tried and failed, compared with 13 per cent in Wales, according to a poll commissioned by the Liberal Democrats.
The party is calling for a new legal right for patients to see a GP within seven days and has drawn up plans to recruit and retain 8,000 more GPs to achieve this goal. The Liberal Democrats say the plan could be achieved by increasing the number of GP training places and running a recruitment campaign to encourage those who have left the NHS to return.
Latest data shows that millions of patients have to wait two weeks or longer to see a GP. Official NHS data shows that in October 2023, 7.4 million GP visits took place two weeks or more after being booked, an increase of 1.1 million on the same month last year. Two-week waiting times accounted for almost one in four (23 per cent) of all GP appointments in October, up from 19 per cent in the same month last year.
In October 2023, 2.6 million appointments took place more than four weeks after booking – 700,000 more than in October last year. This was one of thirteen doctor visits in October, compared to one in seventeen in the same month last year. Of all appointments in October 2023, 70.9 percent occurred in person, down slightly from 71.3 percent in October last year.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: “This is outrageous and should serve as an urgent wake-up call to sleeping ministers.” to self-treatment. This Conservative government’s record on the NHS is disgraceful.
“In some parts of the country, face-to-face medical appointments have all but disappeared. After years of neglect by a Conservative government that repeatedly broke its promise to recruit more GPs, patients are still suffering.
“The Liberal Democrats would guarantee people the right to see a GP within a week so they can get the care they deserve. This will ease the burden on our hospitals and paramedics and save time and money elsewhere in the NHS.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We are making it easier for patients to see and contact their GP. Compared to October 2019, each GP practice now sees an average of 44 more appointments per working day, and the Government has met its manifesto commitment to provide an additional 50 million appointments per year.
“We are improving access to GP services by cutting red tape, expanding community pharmacies and funding new digital systems for practices as part of our Primary Care Recovery Plan. Our long-term NHS workforce plan includes a plan to train hundreds of thousands of additional staff, including GPs, over the next fifteen years.”
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.