A WINSFORD GP has urged the public to be more ‘tolerant of ill health’ after news that up to £13 million of NHS cuts are imminent in the area.

Last month, the Guardian spoke to chief executive of Central Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), Simon Whitehouse, when he spoke of large health cuts that will be made in the area and particularly at Leighton Hospital.

Following the news, Dr Jonathan Griffiths, GP at Swanlow Practice in Winsford and chair of NHS Vale Royal CCG, has told the public that a joint effort is required to at first ‘help ourselves’ before seeking medical advice.

Dr Griffiths said in a recent post in his blog: “Most people I speak to think we should be using tight NHS resources as efficiently as possible. Despite this, there are many people every day turning up in A&E who don’t need to be there.”

The Winsford GP gave some of his views on why services are becoming more and more stretched.

He added: “I think as a society we have become less tolerant of ill health. We are no longer prepared to wait it out. I see people attending with coughs, sore throats, sticky eyes and other self-limiting conditions on the day they start. We are unhappy living with the symptoms and want an immediate cure.

“We all need to do our bit. We need to choose well when we need care, and stop and think if we may initially need to help ourselves before seeking other services.

"We need a greater tolerance and understanding of risk, and to be less quick to pass all risk onto others. We need to acknowledge that self-limiting conditions really are self-limiting, and to be patient patients while we wait for them to resolve.”

Dr Griffiths also explained that the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund, which provided on average an extra 3,361 GP appointments per month in the area last year, is due to run out in weeks and this is why services at Leighton Hospital will have to be cut.

“The CCG does not have any spare money to fund this,” said Dr Griffiths.

“We could only find the money by talking it out of the local hospital. If the money is not forthcoming, those 3,361 extra appointments per month are all going to disappear.”