More and more people are turning to social media for their health advice and, in particular, to Doctors who have forged television and social media careers away from the waiting room.
Doctors turned social media influencers like Dr Alex George, can command up to £12,000 for one Instagram post. With the average GP salary in London coming in at around £60k, it would take Dr Alex et al, just five Instagram posts to earn what they would have done in a year. Further to this, the accessibility of these rising stars makes them a more trustworthy source for millennials than even Google or charity websites.
At Patient Claim Line, we conducted a survey to find out where patients would choose to get their health advice from. After a year that has seen patients struggle to get GP appointments we wanted to measure the impact this has had on patient trust. The results showed 18-24 year olds would rather turn to social media influencers, with only the NHS website coming in ahead of them.
Ages 18-24 survey participants ranked the following from most to least trustworthy:
1. NHS website
2. Social media
3. Google search
4. Charity websites
5. Newspapers
How much can social media doctors charge?
With 1.9 million Instagram followers, it’s perhaps no surprise that former Love Island contestant Dr Alex, has capitalised on his popularity and brought healthcare to the masses. Other famous faces making the most of the new-found need for easy-access health advice are Dr Ranj, who started out on CBeebies’ ‘Get Well Soon,’ and This Morning’s resident GP, Dr Zoe Williams.
Having looked through the data from our survey, we delved deeper into the potential earnings for these Instagram Influencer Doctors to find out who could earn the most. As a youth mental health ambassador and having been on a prime TV show, it was Dr Alex who came out on top. His potential Instagram earnings are in the region of £9.1k to 12.6k for one single social media post. Lesser known, but albeit, influential faces like Dr Frankie Jackson Spence, can ask for up to £560 per post
Here’s the breakdown of the other UK medical influencers and how much they can make on Instagram:
UK Doctor influencers with the highest Insta earning potential:
1. @dralexgeorge can charge £9.1K – £12.6K for 1 post.
2. @thefoodmedic can charge £3.2K – £4.4K for 1 post.
3. @drjoshuawolrich can charge £2.5K – £3.5K for 1 post
4. @drranj can charge £2.1K – £2.9K for 1 post
5. @drchatterjee can charge £2K – £2.7K for 1 post.
6. @doctors_kitchen can charge £1.7K – £2.4K for 1 post.
7. @gynaegeek can charge £1.2K – £1.6K for 1 post
8. @drzoewilliams can charge £791 – £1.1K for 1 post.
9. @drfrankiejs can charge £404 – £560 for 1 post.
10. @drphilippakaye can charge £163 – £227 for 1 post
What this means for you
At Patient Claim Line, we believe it’s a valuable facet of social media that so many young people are interested and engaged by their health and the medical profession. It’s great to see that qualified medical professionals are earning such a high Instagram following and have been able to spread accurate medical information to worried Brits throughout the pandemic.
Furthermore, the pandemic has put a lot of strain on the NHS, and our recent survey also revealed 50% of Brits have reported that their treatment was delayed due to the pandemic. Having credible, accessible sources of medical information is important for the general health awareness of the population. However, it is still crucial that social media users check the credentials of influencers that they are following online and should always consult a pharmacist or GP before taking medical advice.