My anecdote from the US is that usually my primary care doctor will do a rapid streptococcus test if I come in with a sore throat, and only prescribe antibiotics if it comes back positive. That seems responsible enough for me.
Yeah mine would say "you are in your 40's and healthy so I won't prescribe antibiotics unless it doesn't get better in a week". But that as I said is fairly new and quite specific to sore throat from streps.
