One in five young people do ‘DIY medicine’

ALMOST a quarter of young people have carried out treatment on themselves after failing to get an appointment with a GP, a Liberal Democrat poll has found.

Adults aged 18 to 34 were more likely than any other age group to turn to “DIY doctors” after failing to see their GP, according to the survey.

Overall one in seven (14 per cent) of the population said they carried out medical treatment on themselves or asked someone else who was not a medical professional to do so. It rose to 24 per cent among those aged 18 to 24 and 20 per cent among those aged 25 to 34.

The research found that almost a quarter of Britons tried and failed to see their GP face-to-face last year.

Meanwhile, one in three (33 per cent) of those delayed seeing a GP despite suffering with pain. More than one in five (21 per cent) purchased medication online or at a pharmacy without advice from a GP while one in seven (16 per cent) went to A&E. Three in 10 (29 per cent) stopped attempting to get an NHS GP appointment altogether.

Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, called for a new wave of NHS doctors to be recruited and for patients to have a legal right to see a GP within a week.

NHS data show that in October 2023, some 7.4 million GP appointments took place two weeks or more after being booked, up 1.1 million compared with the same month last year. Two-week waits made up almost one in four (23 per cent) of all GP appointments in October, up from 19 per cent in the same month last year.

Some 2.6 million appointments took place more than four weeks after booking in October 2023, 700,000 more than in October last year. This made up one in 13 (7.6 per cent) of the total GP appointments in October, compared to around one in 17 (6 per cent) in the same month last year.

“This is scandalous and must act as an urgent wake-up call for ministers asleep on the job,” said Mr Davey.

The Department of Health and Social Care was approached for comment.