GP appointment?
What's one of those?
This is sort of the point. We only go to see doctors when we think we are ill, it's a bit like driving your car into the ground, and then going to the mechanic because all the wheels fell off and the engine caught fire. It's completely the wrong approach to healthcare, and ultimately unaffordable. Medicine should be about wellness. It should be proactive, not reactive. Waiting until we think we're unwell before we see a doctor is quite the worse approach to healthcare anyone could think of.
That's also sort of the problem, going to see a GP is a pain, you have to work up to it, and you can generally only be bothered going if you really think you might be ill. That sets up a level of expectation, so when you've done all that, and the GP – within 30 seconds – says it's nothing, go home, it's no wonder people get upset, and expect
something. The doctor, of course, is probably right, it is nothing and it will resolve. That said, I will say, this is a terrible
practice of medicine. You've worked up all the anxiety to be dismissed in short order. It also wastes a good opportunity to engage in wellness. You're there for one thing, and once dismissed, you are out of the door. No doctor should do that. Sorry, no excuses there.
Things unfixed, cost a lot more. We have to serious about health, and that is a tango for two. I think it's unhealthy to approach a doctor's appointment with the view of
how do I convince them I'm unwell (equally, to be honest, I do understand it).
If we don't change the paradigm for healthcare, it'll get more unaffordable and the outcomes poorer.