Recent reports indicate that one in seven people in the UK now prefer consulting AI chatbots over seeing a doctor. While some may lament the loss of human connection in healthcare, the reality is that many patients no longer have meaningful access to their registered GP.
The Decline of Continuity of Care
Continuity of care has quietly disappeared. General practice now relies on a rotating cast of locums, telephone triage, and vague promises of callbacks. The idea of a named GP who knows your history and your face has become a nostalgic memory rather than a routine experience.
Against this backdrop, the rise of chatbots is not a cultural shift but a coping mechanism. If the system has already replaced relationship-based medicine with transactional encounters, it is hardly surprising that patients choose a transaction that is predictable, available, and does not require a frantic 7:59 am redial marathon.
The Vacuum Left by the NHS
The real concern is not that patients are turning to AI, but that the NHS has left a vacuum where primary care used to be. Nature abhors a vacuum, and patients are filling it with whatever works.
One patient describes calling their GP surgery only to be warned not to continue if they have symptoms like heart attack, chest pain, or difficulty breathing. They are then urged to complete an online form listing symptoms, start dates, changes, daily impact, and attempted remedies. It is often quicker to input this information into ChatGPT and determine if the issue is serious.
Doctors Also Turn to Unregulated AI
The trend is not limited to patients. Doctors are increasingly using unregulated AI tools in daily practice. Without a regulated alternative, more people will turn to untrusted sources for serious health issues, creating a shadow AI economy.
Prof Graham Lord, lead author of the study, warns of this exact outcome. Mixed public trust in medical AI is not a reason to slow innovation but to regulate it like any other clinical tool. Waiting times have improved, but a third of treatments still exceed 18 weeks. Digitisation has helped, but NHS leadership must get ahead of this shift rather than leaving patients frustrated.
Ultimately, the solution lies in restoring primary care and regulating AI to ensure safe, accessible health advice for all.
