Leader comment: NHS of our dreams only exists on Peppa Pig cartoon

Poor old Dr Brown Bear. He is, after all, only trying to do his best to keep Peppa Pig and friends healthy.

Cartoon show Peppa Pig has been blamed for contributing to patients' unrealistic expectations (Picture: PA)

But, it seems, even cartoon characters are adding to the mounting pressure on our creaking NHS.

For, according to an article in the prestigious BMJ medical journal, parents watching the show with their kids may get the wrong idea about GPs and believe they are able to make emergency house calls at the slightest sign of trouble.

Most of us, The Scotsman would suggest, are aware that GPs are very busy and attempts to arrange an appointment are often met with “how about sometime next week?” The NHS of our dreams can only exist in the surreal imaginings of a children’s TV writer.

What Dr Brown Bear would make of the news that “man flu” is a real thing – or at least men with this type of infection suffer more than women because their immune systems aren’t quite as good – is hard to know. Perhaps the deluge of calls from tetchy, sniffling blokes demanding treatment would drive even him to insist prospective patients call NHS 24 before they can make an appointment.