Patients should be able to refer themselves for treatment with physiotherapists, speech therapists and dieticians without seeing a doctor first.

Patients should bypass GPs and refer themselves to specialists, says Alan Johnson
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Alan Johnson will tell the Chief Health Professions Officers conference in London that self-referral means more flexibility for patients, quicker treatment and less time off work.

He will say: "I am giving the green light to physiotherapists, podiatrists and all Allied Health Professionals that they can accept patients who self-refer.

"Services provided by Allied Health Professionals play a vital part in building a society that's fair and inclusive.

"Podiatry, for example, is a vital service for older people as it improves their mobility ensuring that they are not unnecessarily confined to their homes.

"Self-referral will help both vulnerable members of society and those with busy lives by providing quicker access without the unnecessary hoop jumping of going to see a doctor first."

Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) include physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, dieticians and podiatrists, who treat problems with the feet and lower legs."