Why do Brits tend to not bother seeing a doctor even if things get bad?

im gonna vent a little bit here. my other half is disabled. she owes her life to the nhs. you will find no criticism from me of the people performing miracles for a neverending tide of people who need help. the nhs is in a bad way true. it needs some real money spending. so many people are unintentionally abusing the system though. a couple of people in our friends circle are constantly and routinely booking doctors appointments over imaginary symptoms. one says she has every mental condition under the sun, and is constantly looking for some new diagnosis for something she read about. i know her well, she isnt the brightest and she refuses to listen to anything anyone tells her. then when she gets into trouble, she blames some meaningless string of conditions and claims discrimination. the other, every time my other half is sent for some test or another, she books a doctor's appointment and asks for that test. last time it was the bothendsoscopy. apparently the poor doctor had quite the time convincing her she didnt need a camera up her arse. now, these are both good, nice people. they mean well. but it is a complete waste of time and money. they take up emergency resources that are needed elsewhere. and i feel for the poor nurse who had to deal with one of those two geniuses, who walked into a&e and told them she was having an adrenal attack. wtf? she had been talking to my other half about Addison's disease a week or two before, and just decided to walk into the hospital. she waited for hours, they did a few tests and told her to bugger off. she was complaining she was only in there for just less than an hour. whoever you are, id like to say that you're a true warrior to have tolerated her babble for nearly an hour. i thank you for your service. but that medic shouldn't have to deal with the likes of her. when my other half couldnt get a gp appointment, her mate told her that if you gently berate the person on 101, they will put you through to the doctors surgery who then have to find you a five minute appointment because 101 said so. that boiled my piss. a fucking hack to get a bloody doctors appontment? this is why my other half can't get a regular appointment to monitor her treatment. this is why i dont see a doctor until i have to. because i know full well that there are people out there, in this country and in my town who need the limited resources the nhs has more than me. if i can deal with it myself, then i will. i have however learned the lesson that if the mrs tells me to go to the doctor, i should go to the doctor. just because the service is free doesn't mean unlimited use. there is a duty to use it responsibly, which some people don't seem to realise.