A LEADING North Yorkshire GP says doctors are seeing a lot of 'anxiety, worry and stress' in patients contacting their local surgeries, following 'worrying headlines' about the pandemic.

Dr Nigel Wells, Clinical Chair of NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group and a GP at Beech Tree Surgery in Selby, says people should take steps to offset concerns caused by discussion of the pandemic in the news and on social media.

“Anxiety, worry and stress are one of the big things that we’re seeing when people are ringing us up in general practice," he said.

"So it’s maybe time to think again about what we can do for ourselves when we’re in the middle of this pandemic - because it is very, very worrying and it is giving us lots of anxiety.”

He said it was crucial for people to take control of things they could do to ease feelings of anxiety and worry after worrying headlines over the weekend, from discussions over the intervals between vaccinations to the virus being more transmissible and maybe more serious than thought.

“The issue is that we can’t really do much about these things, and sometimes that can make us very anxious and worried. So it’s maybe time to think again about what we can do for ourselves." He recommended eating well, trying to sleep well, not drinking too much alcohol and taking daily exercise.