THE sound of one's baby crying, albeit only for a few minutes, can be distressing.

The question of how best to go about having one's navel pierced can be perplexing. The death of one's gerbil can be upsetting.

None of the above, however, are reasons for calling one's GP.

And yet these are the sort of calls that GPs and their staff have to deal with every day.

According to doctors in Swindon, a fifth of those calling on their services have no medical reason to do so, and another two fifths also have no medical reason but have a real reason to believe they do.

Only the remaining two fifths are genuinely in need.

Many GPs have workloads so heavy that the stress would drive most normal people into, well, calling their GP.

It is vital that everyone pauses before picking up the telephone or setting foot inside the surgery and asks whether what we are doing is really necessary.

After all, when we really are ill, we don't want to be treated by a man or woman who is exhausted.