Patients told: ask Dr Google before your GP

THE Royal College of GPS has recommended for the first time that patients should search for information about their illness online as part of a new “three before GP” mantra to ease the pressure on surgeries.

Patients have been urged to follow three steps before booking a doctor’s appointment: see whether their problem could be dealt with through self-care, seek help from a reputable online source or ask a pharmacist for assistance. The call comes as GP leaders warn there are not enough family doctors working in England to cope with the soaring demand and that practices are closing at an “alarming rate”.

Prof Helen Stokes-lampard, the chairman of the RCGP, said that GPS “really feel the pinch” over the winter period, as she said people need to “think” before picking up the phone to call their surgery for an appointment.

“‘Three before GP’ is a quick way to summarise to get people to think,” she told the Press Association.

“Before you come to the GP surgery for an appointment have you done these three basic things: Self-care – so can I look after this myself ? Then using online resources like NHS Choices – a reputable source of online information. In years gone by we’d have said look in the family health book but now it is an online resource. The third is seeking advice via a pharmacist.”

She said that there are “of course” many things that people will still need to speak to a GP about, adding: “That’s what we’re here for”.

“But if just 10 per cent of people didn’t come to see their GP, but did one

of those three things, that would make a huge difference,” she said. “It would give us the capacity to deal with those who really need our help at a difficult time for the whole NHS.”

Prof Lampard went on: “We’re just asking people to stop and think: when you reach for the phone to book a GP appointment think: ‘Can I do this myself? Do I need some online help? Could a pharmacists help me?’”

When she was asked whether GPS will be able to cope this winter if patients do not take these measures, she replied: “That’s the worry we have.

“We believe that up to a quarter of appointments could be avoidable or sorted out by another means,” she added.

Last night, The Times reported that Britain’s highest paid GP earned £700,000 a year from the NHS. The unnamed GP was one of more than 200 to receive over £200,000 – double the average GP’S salary of £90,000.