More than three million hours were spent on skin conditions in primary care in 2016 at a cost to
the NHS of £723 million each year, according to a new report4 from the ABPI produced in collaboration with an independent Dermatology Expert Working Group (EWG). It indicates that around 13.2 million people in England visited their GP with a skin problem in 2016.

Dermatology services are under immense pressure because of the huge emphasis on the diagnosis and management of skin cancer, the report says. An unintended consequence is a dramatic reduction in clinical time available for people with long- term inflammatory skin conditions, such as psoriasis, rosacea, urticaria, eczema, atopic dermatitis and acne, which is leading to an imbalance in care.