Nearly half (47 per cent) of the UK population expects to have to pay for some NHS services in the future, according to a new survey commissioned by life sciences company Bayer. 

The Populus survey also highlighted a strong appetite for self care as a means of reducing burdens on NHS services, with three-quarters of respondents happy to use self-testing or self-monitoring kits at home. More than half said they would only see a doctor if those devices indicated a problem or showed that they required a prescription, while 44 per cent would access healthcare information online in the first instance.

However, the study also showed that work remains to be done to champion other self care resources such as community pharmacies. Only nine per cent of survey respondents said that they would visit their pharmacist as their first port of call to address health concerns, while just seven per cent would call an NHS helpline.