18.07.12
GPs receive 51 million ‘unnecessary’ visits per year
GP surgeries and A&E departments in England and Wales receive roughly 51 million ‘unnecessary’ visits per year, data demonstrates. The NHS is to conduct a survey to discover why the figure is so high.
Research shows that a fifth of all visits to GPs concern ‘minor problems’. These are termed as problems that patients could deal with themselves or treat with over-the-counter medication. In any one year 20,000 visits will be made for travel sickness, 40,000 for dandruff and 5.2 million for blocked noses, figures suggest.
Health care leaders have raised concerns that unnecessary visits are causing a drain of resources from higher priority cases and those with permanent medical conditions, and that undue pressure is being put upon the emergency services and A&E departments across the country.
The NHS is working with the Self Care Forum (SCF) to conduct the survey.
Dr Paul Stillman, a member of the SCF and a GP, said: “We have a growing older population inEngland. More people are living longer with complex or long-term health conditions – this is great news for everyone, but it does mean we need to take steps so that we can focus more resources on these potentially vulnerable groups of people.”
The SCF recently started the Choose Well campaign to promote the self-treatment of common complaints. Imperial College London has published research suggesting that the NHS has made potential saving of £44m through informed patients self-diagnosing and treating simple complaints, with part of these savings attributed to the quality of the NHS Choices website.
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