Millions of young people feeling let down by the NHS are turning to TikTok

Millions of young people, feeling let down by the NHS, are turning to social media for medical advice, study says.

Influencers on TikTok and Instagram are increasingly championing doctors as patients complain they struggle to be taken seriously.

A third of Gen Z and a quarter of Millennials – around six million people in the UK – say they rely on health information platforms.

This is despite the fact that experts have been warning of the dangers of medical advice on the Internet for years, where misinformation is widespread.

The Hall & Partners study is based on a survey of 10,500 people over the age of 18 in the UK, US, Germany, China and Japan conducted last summer.

Influencers on TikTok and Instagram are increasingly championing doctors as patients complain they struggle to be taken seriously

It found that almost half of patients in the UK were frustrated at not having enough time with doctors and a lack of empathy.

One in four said they felt misunderstood, while one in ten said they had trouble understanding complicated medical jargon.

Instead, many turn to social media sites for answers.

Gen Z was the most likely to do this, with 33 percent admitting they first turned to TikTok and then to Instagram and Twitter for help.

When they saw a doctor, a quarter said they took responsibility by asking to get a prescription from something they saw online.

While almost one in five requested treatment, they had heard from another patient or influencer via social media.

Although older people tend to be the most likely to rely on their GP visit, 5 percent of those over 60 said they used health information they found on Facebook.

The study, titled “Patient Trendscoping: What You Need To Know About Patients of the Future,” found that people of all ages with chronic conditions are unlikely to see their doctor as a regular source of information visit.

This rose to nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of people who have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), for example. Almost a third (28 percent) of this group said they rely on online influencers for advice.

Health influencers can gain a large following by posting about how they can help people with problems.

A survey found that almost half of patients in the UK felt frustrated at not having enough time with doctors and a lack of empathy

Lottie Drynan, who has 256,000 followers on Instagram, has a blog called The Tummy Diaries where she shares her “thoughts and tips” on living with the condition.

She specifically tells her followers to see their GP and urges them “not to give up until you have answers.”

But experts have long warned that for-profit social media giants use algorithms that encourage sensationalist or controversial content rather than reliable or accurate.

This is particularly dangerous when it comes to medical advice – a problem made clear by the health conspiracies about cures and the vaccine that have been rife during the coronavirus pandemic.

One example is the antiparasitic drug Ivermectin, which has been touted online as a Covid “miracle cure,” although scientists have found no evidence of its effectiveness.

Lucy Ireland, Senior Partner in Healthcare at Hall & Partners, said: “As the NHS faces increasing ambulance delays and strikes impacting emergency wait times and access to doctors, this trend is likely to accelerate.

“More digital solutions will be an important element in reconnecting younger patients with traditional sources of health advice.”