Doctor: Think twice before seeking help
A Midlands GP today urged people to think twice before seeking help amid warnings that patients could face a wait of more than a month for an appointment during the winter.
Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard, the chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said she was "profoundly concerned" about how general practice will cope this winter. She is particularly concerned about people with long-term conditions.
But Dr Simon Cockhill, who lives in Shrewsbury, said patients had a responsibility to help the situation.
He said: "I do realise that people get anxious thinking about the symptoms they have got. But I do also think that often if people discuss their symptoms with family and friends and other people they trust, they would realise the conditions they have were normal self-limited illnesses such as coughs and colds.
"They could gain confidence from other people and think for themselves.
"There has been a lot of pressure as the bar is lowering for people's threshold to come to the doctors.
"This leaves less time for attention to the more serious conditions. It is frustrating, but I do realise the anxiety that drives them and the concerns they have.
"We clearly encourage people to present early for conditions such as cancer so I do realise it is confusing.
"If people step back and stop and think then some would realise they do not need the GP. Another place to go is the pharmacist."
Winter woes have been a long-standing problem in the NHS with a lot of concern about hospital care.
But Dr Stokes-Lampard, a GP in Lichfield, said every peak in workload in A&E departments is magnified at surgeries which are "already skating on thin ice".
She said: "If you've suddenly developed a lump, or you've got a funny pain somewhere, you know it's not desperately urgent for you to see your GP today.
"If it's already taking some patients two to three weeks to get in to see a GP for the non-urgent stuff, then by the time three to four weeks has passed the non-urgent stuff may be becoming urgent.
"With lumps or bleeding problems or things that could be signs of serious disease, my profound concern is that people will delay seeking help for things that could potentially be life-threatening or life-changing if they are not tackled swiftly."
