The lack of face-to-face appointments with the general practitioner “turns patients into do-it-yourself doctors”

The Liberal Democrats made the claim as a study revealed how sick people diagnose and treat their own illnesses after giving up trying to get a niche with their family doctor

Some patients have had difficulty getting in-person appointments (

Image: Getty Images)

Desperate patients are becoming 'do-it-yourself doctors' after failing to get a face-to-face appointment with a GP, the Lib Dems have claimed.

Of those who failed to secure an in-person slot in the past year, one in six admitted to performing medical treatment on themselves or asking someone else who is not a medical professional to do so, according to research.

A survey found that of those who said they had tried but were unable to get a face-to-face appointment with a GP in their area in the past 12 months.

Around 24% prescribed medication online or in pharmacies without the advice of a GP, 19% went to the emergency room and 31% gave up on getting an appointment altogether.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: 'This is a national scandal.

Lib Democracy leader Sir Ed Davey (

Picture:

PENNSYLVANIA)

“Face-to-face appointments with a GP have all but disappeared in some parts of the country.

"We are now faced with a devastating situation where people have to self-medicate or even self-prescribe medication because they cannot see their local GP.

"The British public pays their fair share to the NHS, but years of government mismanagement and local health service neglect have prevented millions of people from seeing their GP."

Some 29% of people have tried unsuccessfully to get an appointment with a GP in their area in the past 12 months, according to results from pollsters Savanta ComRes, who surveyed 2,061 UK adults online last month.

Those in London (35%) and the rest of the South East (34%) were most likely to say they had tried but were unable to get an in-person appointment.

One in four in Scotland and one in five in Wales have also failed to get a face-to-face appointment.

Of those who were unsuccessful, 32% reported delaying consultation despite pain.

One in four said they bought medicine...