It's a story I hear so often these days. People can be waiting from 4-6 weeks to see or speak to a doctor, and when they get there, they are frustrated by the outcome of a health system that is splitting at the seams.
Hands tied, at best - Doctors are having to resort to sticking plaster fixes, treating the symptoms of your pain or ill, without being able to address what is actually causing it - at worst, patients are leaving feeling dismissed, disbelieved about their health condition and invalidated.
I'm not decrying the care or the pressure Doctors are under. I feel they are doing what they can under extreme conditions. But post pandemic waiting times have risen drastically.
According to the latest BMA stats from Jan 2023*, over 7million people are currently waiting for treatment; 3m waiting over 18 weeks; over 379,000 waiting more than a year - And that doesn't include the queuing time just to reach a diagnosis!
With a growing population living with an increased number of long-term conditions, it is not surprising that the system is creaking.
People are looking for alternative solutions to take back control of their health
This 'perfect storm' has led more and more people to become victim to their health condition. Afraid to approach their doctor, deflated or dejected by the known waiting times, they feel like they are no longer in the driver's seat but a passenger on their own health journey.
As people actively look for solutions to their health problems, Complementary and Alternative Medicine has become less ‘Alternative’. The top reasons being**:
Patients want more time with a practitioner - often sitting longer in the waiting room than with the GP
Patients are not feeling heard
Treatments haven’t worked - Doctors run tests and report that everything looks OK while the patient is still hurting
People want a natural remedy away from medication
And perhaps key to what I hear:
PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TO THEIR HEALTH
With my integrated health model, we can look at the 'whole you' - the mental, emotional, biochemical and physical you - to understand your pain and using a combination of my services, find the treatments needed to reach better movement, health and wellbeing for you. There is NO one size fits all and when I feel you may need additional support from services I don't offer, e.g. chiropractor or medical intervention, I will suggest this to you.
In Somerset we have social prescribing networks, hubs and link workers who are there to support and assist. Their details can be found here www.healthconnectionsmendip.org
Book an assessment session with me at my Somerton or Wells Studio
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