Peppa Pig has been blamed for contributing to patients’ unrealistic expectations of what they can expect from their GP.

A general practitioner, writing in the BMJ, also suggested the children’s cartoons – which feature a super-efficient GP Dr Brown Bear who works long hours alone without complaint – could be encouraging inappropriate use of services.

In one episode, Dr Brown Bear dashes to the home of a piglet with a facial rash.

He reassures the parents it is “nothing serious” and offers a dose of medicine and says it would have cleared up anyway.

Dr Catherine Bell said it questions whether the character is unscrupulous for conducting a clinically inappropriate home visit, adding: “It is also an example of unnecessary prescribing for a viral illness, and encourages patients to attempt to access their GP inappropriately.”