1992.
I saw a doctor in the Midlands when I caught chickenpox when I was 8 years old, in 1964.
I've been to the local surgery 3 times since I moved to Hebden Bridge in 1986. The first time was in in 1989 when I got back into cycling and got a bad dose of sunburn when I stupidly did a 5 hour mid-summer ride without any protection. That time I was seen by a nurse who put cream and dressings on the nasty oozing blisters that resulted.
In 1992, I got a bad case of 'strep throat' which I ignored for a few days until it felt like I was gargling with barbed wired and I could no longer swallow. I saw the doc and he put me on antibiotics.
While I was there, the doctor took the opportunity to update my medical records since the NHS didn't have a clue what I'd been up since my previous doctor's appointment in 1964! I told him that my hearing wasn't great so he sent me for a test and I went back a 3rd time to get the results which told me what I already knew which was that my hearing was impaired, but was functional!
And, that was that!
I was really bleedin' begging to be humbled by the bad health fairy, wasn't I!
Fast forward a few months from that post of mine and guess what - I have been ill for nearly 5 weeks now with chest problems! At first, I tried doing my usual thing of 'toughing it out' and ignoring the NHS as if I were some kind of superman, immune to the nasty bugs that bugger up mere mortals but a night spent awake in the foetal position gasping for breath and with my heart going crazy was finally enough to convince me that I needed help. Even then, I waited until the local surgery opened rather than calling out an emergency doctor.
Chest x-ray tomorrow, heaven knows what after that ...
And the moral of this story is that a healthy person does not need to see a doctor very often, but a wise person goes when necessary!
If you have anything more than a minor illness -
see your doctor! 
