Why are the UK public avoiding their GP?

The UK is in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic with cases starting to rise again. There has been talk of some areas going in to another lock down to try and avoid the disease spreading. People who experience symptoms are advised to go and get tested at one of the many centres round the country, however this can sometimes involve a lot of travelling as some testing centres may be a few hours drive away from where people live.

People are still advised to seek medical advise but not to go to their GP's surgery as this will increase the risk of the virus spreading in the surgery environment etc. Doctors are still able to give people advice on the phone or via video call to ensure that the public has the best source of information possible in order to fight the virus.

Over half of the UK say that Covid-19 has made them more likely to try and diagnose their own symptoms instead of consulting a healthcare professional, a YouGov study conducted on behalf of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, has found.

The new analysis, based on a survey of more that 2,000 UK residents, shows that many are still reluctant to visit their GP when symptoms of an illness or health condition appear and will instead try to manage their condition alone.

52% say that the pandemic has made them more likely to try and diagnose their own symptoms. The survey also showed that 39% are reluctant to visit their GP at this time because didn't want to waste their GP's time. A quarter of respondents stated that they didn't want to visit their GP because they were worried about catching Covid-19.

Avoiding the GP surgery has serious implications for many health conditions including allergy, where the UK has some of the highest prevalence rates in the world.

Affecting over 20% of the UK population, allergy can prove fatal without an accurate diagnosis. Despite this, more than a third of those surveyed said they believed allergy to be a 'minor health condition'. Almost half incorrectly agreed that allergy was simply a more severe type of intolerance.

When asked in which ways they would respond if they or a family member developed symptoms of an allergy, 59% said that they would search online for information and 56% would buy over the counter medication, such as antihistamines. 26% would consult a family or friend, only 10% would contact a patient charity and 8% would buy an online test.

Amena Warner, Head of Clinical Services at Allergy UK, says, "We need to take allergy seriously and stop treating allergy and allergic asthma as 'minor' health conditions. Attempting to manage these kinds of conditions alone, without accurate diagnosis, can be dangerous."

In the 20 years leading up to 2012, there was a 615% increase in the rate of hospital admissions for anaphylaxis in the UK. Today, a staggering 44% of British adults suffer from at least one allergy and the number continues to rise.

The most accurate way to discover a person's allergy triggers, and potentially save lives, is through specific IgE testing*. Accurate testing is available through GP surgeries, yet almost two thirds (63%) stated they were not aware that this was the case. 80% of those surveyed, however, said that Covid-19 had made them aware that testing in order to track and trace diseases was important.

Warner continues, "Always speak to your doctor first and discuss options for getting a specific IgE test for what may be triggering your allergic symptoms and avoid trying to source online or unvalidated tests."