I'm not a doctor, so take this with a grain of salt, but it seems to me that it's a Really Bad Idea to take antibiotics when you don't know that you have a bact

I'm not a doctor, so take this with a grain of salt, but it seems to me that it's a Really Bad Idea to take antibiotics when you don't know that you have a bacterial infection and roughly what it is. Sure, it might happen to help if you happen to have just got infected, or to be about to get infected, with bacteria. But it also might happen to be harmful, e.g. if you get infected by something when you're near the end of the course of antibiotics -- seems like a great way to breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria inside your body. Contrary to what your article says, the British system does not take you straight from "see your GP" to "be hospitalized" with nothing in between. If you have, or might have, something wrong with you that requires specialist treatment, your GP will refer you to a specialist. (Who will typically work at a hospital, so you'll see them there, but why does that matter?) If Polish GP-equivalents are typically able to see you the same day as you call them up, that's certainly better than in the UK. (Though if you have something that seems like it may need urgent attention, you will likely get a same-day appointment from your GP in the UK too. For instance, I think every time we've taken our 3-year-old to the doctor we've had an appointment the same day as we called.) I am not trying to argue that the system in the UK is perfect or close to it. But some of these specific criticisms don't match up with my own experience.