Why patients are turning to Dr Chatbot | Letters (theguardian.com)

Richard Eltringham and Barbara Riddell point to the decline in general practice as the reason why people are turning to AI for health advice. Plus a letter from Dr Katie Baker Your report ( One in seven in UK prefer consulting AI chatbots to seeing doctor, study finds, 13 May ) will no doubt be greeted with the usual hand‑wringing about the decline of human connection in healthcare. But the more honest explanation is far simpler: many of us no longer see our registered doctor in any meaningful sense. Continuity of care has quietly evaporated. General practice has become a rotating cast of locums, telephone triage and “someone will call you back at some point between 8am and the heat death of the universe”. The idea of a named GP – someone who knows your history, your face – has become NHS folklore, spoken of wistfully but rarely encountered in the wild. Continue reading...