Would you pay to see the doctor?

[justasking111]

The IMF has said that the government will need to raise taxes. One way is NHS charges. This will be means tested I should add. It's being covered in the financial times, telegraph and others but hidden behind a pay wall. I don't know how to archive, if anyone else does please do.

I don't know which one I would choose, it's a thorny problem.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/07/25/raise-taxes-working-people-charge-for-nhs-imf/

I wonder if the NHS would be better if the GPs were owned by the NHS instead of the actual doctors. I would prefer the doctors to be concentrating on helping patients, rather than running a business. Maybe it would be easier to get doctors to actually work as GPs if they have a normal contract rather than the faff of being self employed.

As long as the NHS then also becomes opt out and deducted from my tax bill, so that I can choose to go private instead, I have no issue with this.

Yes that is absolutely awful. Many people couldn't go privately. The NHS has not been properly funded. Not enough doctors become GPs. In the inner cities it is worse. Paying for GP appointments won't resolve that.

I’ve not been able to wirk for over two months waiting for a consultant appointment - only to be told by consultant that their examination doesnt match eith my symptoms and sent back to my GP. Wouldn’t even fit me with pessary. Physio - I was referred 10 weeks ago - still waiting for an appointment GP flabbergasted. I’ve had to put £250 on a credit card to get a private consult - meanwhile I only have statutory sick pay coming in…

I have a bladder and uterine prolapse

Ive already paid - I work and pay taxes and national insurance. I won’t have a job if this goes on much longer. I’d be utterly utterly fucked off if I’d already paid £60 for the three GP appointments. I’m fucked off enough as it is.

I wonder how many people die preventable deaths in the UK because they can't even get an appointment in time, because they can't afford to take every morning off work to wait in a phone queue to try and get an appointment, or there just aren't any appointments available for weeks. Or the ambulance doesn't reach them in time, or doesn't arrive at all (like that poor woman and her disabled daughter in the news recently).

I don’t believe that, you hurt your arm and was offered an ambulance! Who offered you an ambulance, did you call 111? It didn’t happen.

I was offered an ambulance once for a uti when i was still in the uk, when I was at uni. It was the middle of the night, called nhs24 I think it was then, and mentioned that I wasn't sure how I'd get to the hospital as I was didn't have enough money for a taxi and the person on the phone said they could send an ambulance if I couldn't find another way there! I declined of course and got a friend to come with me and split the cost of the taxi.

@Natsku How long ago was that? That just wouldn’t happen today, for a water infection!
If you can physically get to a hospital, regardless as to whether you haven’t got the taxi money, you are expected to go yourself, or make a doctors appointment.I don’t think it would go down well, if a paramedic came to you and you said l rang because l can’t afford a taxi! Primarily, it’s the paramedics decision, they don’t have to take you.

Yes, I would pay. If a service is given for free, economics teaches us that demand will be infinite and therefore we can never meet the demand.

That was about 20 years ago, even as a rather selfish and very skint student I thought it was wrong to accept the ambulance.

Though in my country a few years ago I called my local health centre emergency line when toddler DS fell and hit his head and they made me hang up and call an ambulance instead, even though we could have quickly and easily brought him in ourselves. But they said with head injuries with small children they want paramedics on the scene.

So you'd never phone an ambulance to get you to a public hospital? Do any privates ones have an A&E?

Yes 111 it absolutely did happen they was concerned about internal bleeding

Yup, the NHS is already broken, but people don't see it until they need it. My MIL languished for a whopping 48 hours on a trolley in a corridor in A&E - that was after she'd been blue lighted to A&E by ambulance after collapsing following a month of trying/failing to get GP appointments and twice seeing two different completely disinterested random GPs who fobbed her off. She didn't survive and entirely treatable condition had the GPs bothered to treat her and if A&E hadn't ignored her in a corridor!

I broke my wrist quite nastily and got a lift to A&E. The hospital sent me by ambulance to the next bigger hospital. The paramedic reckoned I should of called an ambulance in the first place. Something, something danger to life or limb as they were worried about the blood supply to hand. I fully appreciate lots of injuries are fine / can wait /they ended up giving me lots of ketamine and manipulating it blind before sending me on.

I am so sorry for your loss. I hope there was an enquiry into your mother’s treatment or lack of.
This really scares me as I get older, so yes I will pay as I can afford to. Those who can’t afford to still need to use the NHS and just hope they get an appointment etc..

My husband gets free prescriptions, being 60. He is still working and he can easily afford to pay. Free prescriptions should start from state retirement age. They could always introduce it gradually so those already getting them free wouldn't suddenly have to start to pay.

No they don't, even the super-rich need A&E. Something they forget with their tax evasion.

Even if you have a private jet, you may not have time to get somewhere with better healthcare.

Came home to find an ambulance and a paramedic car blocking our driveway. A neighbour has collapsed. They've been there an hour now. So sometimes ambulances etc are tied up in someone's home for a lengthy time.

Here in Ireland you pay to see the doctor, anything from 40 to 100 euros. You then pay for your meds at the chemist. If you rock up at A&E it costs 100 euro, if its a referral from the doc, you just pay the doc about 30 E. A lot of people have medical insurance but for a family you are probably looking at upwards from 500 euro a month. Touch wood we are not unhealthy - we do not have medical insurance so we go public, pay our way at the doctors and the one off payment for a referral when my appendix burst of 30E. I was in hospital for 9 days as I was so ill. It cost me nothing as I was public. If I had had insurance, the hospital would probably have paid them about 2500 E. My DH was waiting for a scan on his nads and was told it would take up to 15 months to get one, he paid private, 120E and got one the next day - all clear thank goodness. Its a sort of pay as you go service.

So your friend had to pay half the taxi to take you to hospital - what exactly was she getting out of this. This is dreadful !!

He was being a good friend, and helping me out, as friends do. Don't you do things to help your friends even though you get nothing out of it?

But why would they pay half YOUR taxi?!

I think you should pay to book the appointment, if you attend you get your deposit back, if you don't they keep the money. Our surgery used to display the number of wasted appointments, it would raise a fortune. This would reduce the number of unnecessary appointments in the first place, and there wouldn't be such a demand. Surely only people in real need would then bother to book an appointment.

To help me because otherwise I couldn't get to the hospital. I would do the same for a friend, wouldn't you?

I managed to get a telephone appointment for my son yesterday. Dr agreed with me he needs a higher dose and the over the counter one I was buying wasn't enough. She said she will now perscibe him some and put it in the repeat prescription for him, for one year.

They will review him then. She said there is nothing to investigate as they found a problem and they going to fix it with these tablets.