One third of people each year admit to seeing a GP for a minor condition that they could have treated at home
The Brief
The goal was to design a solution for primary healthcare (GP surgeries) that would enhance the network of primary caregivers, improve efficiency, and/or ‘reduced the load’.
The solution could be fully designed or conceptual, and was not limited to digital.
The Problem
We were astounded to learn that a third of people each year admit to seeing a GP for a minor condition that they could have treated at home. Interviews with GP surgery staff and a survey of the public echoed this.
We discovered that it’s not a lack of desire to self-care. We found it was anxiety, lack of confidence, and forgetfulness that ‘got in the way’ of self-care; people were giving up too early, and too easily.
We saw this as a fascinating and underserved design problem. We live in an age of information, and the NHS provides carefully worded advice on health conditions. But how could we use design to rethink self-treatment support, and reduce GP visits for minor conditions? This was the focus for our project.