Half of the public 'delayed' seeking help from their GP when they were ill last year - according to new survey
A third of patients believed they would struggle to get an appointment 🩺
- A new survey from The Health Foundation and Ipsos has found that half of the public put off contacting their GP when they were unwell.
- A third did so as they believed they would struggle to get an appointment.
- It found that compared to six months ago, public views of the NHS remained negative.
Half of the public (48%) are putting off seeking help from their GP when they are unwell, a new survey from The Health Foundation and Ipsos has found.
Among those who “delayed or avoided” contacting their GP, 30% did not expect to be offered a suitable appointment, whilst 17% thought it would be too difficult to contact the practice. Another 27% of those who responded chose to manage the issue themselves or wait for it to go away, whilst 14% worried that they would not be taken seriously.
The GP surgery is described as the “front door” of the NHS. It is often the first place patients go when they experience symptoms and seek treatment, a prescription, or an onward referral. However, the survey results highlight that patients are putting off contacting their doctor due to NHS pressures.
What did the survey find?
The survey took place in December 2025, with 2,214 people aged 16 years and older responding via Ipsos’s UK Knowledge Panel.
As well as finding that half of patients held off seeing their GP if they were unwell, it discovered that the overall public perception of NHS performance was negative. With over two in five (42%) thinking that the general standard of care has worsened over the last 12 months, compared with just 12% who think it has improved.
Looking towards 2026, there were similar concerns, with 47% thinking standards will decline (up from 41% in May 2025), and 15% say they will rise.
However, there is strong support for action that could help relieve the pressure on GP surgeries, with two-thirds (66%) supporting patients seeing other care professionals, such as nurses or pharmacists and over half (55%) saying they prefer to use online methods of contacting their GP surgery to make an appointment.
Reacting to the results of the survey, Dr Macarena Staudenmaier, Head of Clinical Product and Operations at Simplyhealth, said: "The fact that nearly half of UK adults are delaying care they need is a stark reminder that breaking down barriers to accessing healthcare has never been more urgent. While these barriers, such as cost, accessibility and ease-of-use, persist, we're seeing preventable conditions quietly become serious ones.
"The truth is that by the time someone finally seeks help, what could have been a straightforward conversation with a GP can become something far more complex, and costly, both for the individual and their employer, as well as the wider health system.”
The GP survey for 2026 is currently underway. To find out how your GP surgery performed in 2025 and how to measure the results with other practices in your area, you can read our story on how to compare GP surgery rankings.