THE badly injured resort to DIY treatments to swerve long A&E waiting times, a survey shows.
Many have made slings for broken arms or chosen medication themselves.
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A quarter needing A&E care in the past two years have decided against it for fear of long queues.
Nearly one in five of those said they had ignored NHS 111 or GP advice to go to hospital.
One in nine said they had put an arm or leg in a homemade bandage and a third had used their own medications.
More than half put up with the pain, the Savanta market research survey found.
Average waiting times are said to be five hours and seven minutes.
The NHS target to discharge patients within four hours is met in just six in ten cases.
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper blamed the previous Tory government for creating “an epidemic of DIY A&E”.
She added: “There’s no time to waste. The new government must bring forward a plan to prevent a winter A&E waiting times crisis.”
The Department of Health said: “We inherited a broken NHS and it is unacceptable that so many people are waiting longer than needed for care.
“It is our mission to get the health service back on its feet and build an NHS fit for the future.”
