Young children would be asked to diagnose their own illnesses and treat themselves at home under a plan to be announced next week. The aim is to slash waiting times at GPs' surgeries amid concern that government action has failed.
The proposal will come in a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research, a leading think-tank with close links to Downing Street. The report will back 'self-medication' and 'self-treatment' by patients generally as an effective measure to clear doctors' waiting lists, and urge 'greater self-reliance' among patients.
Under the plan, children as young as seven would be taught at school about common ailments that do not need the attention of their GPs. But last night health experts insisted that face-to-face meetings with doctors were vital.
Mike Stone, chief executive of the Patients' Association, said: 'We hope this is not being done just to save money. Encouraging people to be responsible patients is absolutely fine. But it's critically important that people aren't deterred from visiting a GP if they actually need to.
'There's a risk that people who don't see doctors enough anyway, such as some men, will be discouraged further. It has to be an exercise that doesn't discourage those who need to go.'
But Liz Kendall of the IPPR, one of Britain's leading healthcare analysts, said: 'Patients need to start admitting that they have not only rights to good healthcare but responsibilities to the health service as well.
'Most patients still don't see a role for themselves beyond doing what they're told by doctors. They need to take on more responsibility for their own care.'
The think-tank report, Future Patient, will be launched at a conference next week at which Health Secretary Alan Milburn will make the keynote address. It will propose a nationwide Patient Support Service, similar to Victim Support, to provide telephone or internet advice to patients after they have received a diagnosis.
The report will say that thousands more patients with long-term illnesses, such as heart disease or diabetes, should monitor their own heartbeats or blood-glucose levels at home and adjust their exercise or medicine accordingly. NHS patients should be encouraged to diagnose their own minor illnesses and purchase the appropriate over-the-counter drugs from chemists to treat them, without troubling their doctors.
And, as worried parents are seen as one of the biggest groups of unnecessary users of GP services and hospital care, schoolchildren should be taught from a very early age about illnesses such as the common cold and told how long they are likely to last so that they do not disturb doctors without good reason, it will add.
A Department of Health source said: 'Ministers share the view that patients need to take more responsibility for their own care. However, this is a sensitive area and would be a political minefield if it was viewed as a cost-cutting exercise. The Chief Medical Officer will consider the issue first and will publish his views. That should open up a full public debate.'
It emerged earlier this year that the NHS is carrying out a trial project in Tyne and Wear intended to 'divert' patients from GPs' surgeries. Those who arrive with minor throat, chest or stomach complaints are being encouraged to go instead for treatment at their local pharmacies.
Kendall of the IPPR admitted: 'Because the NHS has been very paternalist in the past, we already have a situation where many patients are very nervous of asking their doctor a question, let alone taking a role in their own care. If this proposal is to work properly, we will need to transform that situation.
'You shouldn't just be directing people towards health websites. You should be giving them the skills they need to be able to judge whether what they read on the internet is helpful or not. Clearly there is a risk that older or poorer people will not have proper access to that sort of knowledge.'
The Government has already pledged that waiting times to see all GPs will be reduced to two working days by 2004. However, many doctors insist that their current caseloads make this almost impossible without substantial additional investment. Last week, Ministers revealed that they are to axe hospital waiting lists and replace them with target average waiting times.
The IPPR has considerable influence within government. In the past 12 months, it suggested 'baby bonds' for newborn children and has argued that there should be no 'ideological objection' to private sector involvement in the provision of public services. Both positions have been adopted by Ministers.
ben.summerskill@observer.co.uk
