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/

Yes I would pay, even as a low earner I would find £10 - £20 for an appointment - if I could actually get an appointment

I tried for 3 weeks to get an appointment ( online booking system ) , come the end I rang begging to be seen by anyone, anytime, even the nurse, - this was in June - I finally have an appointment for Monday

And here lies the problem. People can not get appointments, their symptoms worsen, they end up in A&E or chronically ill and on the sick costing everyone

DH is now on the sick, been on a wait list for 4 years so far, now hes actually disabled . So that's now two of us not putting anything back into the coffers - him because he gets £94 a week sick, and me because I on 20 hours NMW . He's got to 63 years old and hes ashamed to be having to claim

There's 14 GPs in our surgery - not one works full time

It's only been free since the 50s.

Much as it pains me to say it, if the Conservatives had got in after the war we'd probably have a more efficiently functioning health service. They were also proposing an NHS style model but not always free at point of use.

Ideally you'd pay a nominal amount and those below a certain threshold would be free. Much like prescriptions.

I agree with all this to. The other issue is some people have medical conditions that means they have a significant amount of appointments compared to healthy people also what about teenagers who want appointments without their parents being aware where are they going to get the money from. Or someone being financially abused by their partner so has no access to money. Their are so many issues that would arise

I already pay to see a private GP in the UK, so yes. But also I think charging would help people appreciate the value of an appointment so they actually turn up! A friend of mine is a doctor in a teaching hospital in a ‘nice’ city. For his Tuesday morning clinic 0 out of 8 patients with appointments turned up, and for the Thursday clinic 3 out of 8 turned up. And while that’s slightly worse than a normal week, it is usual for half of appointments not be attended.

The problem with charging people to access the NHS is it becomes a barrier. And whenever you put a barrier in place, it delays diagnosis. People will put off going to seek medical attention which they normally would get checked, and in turn cancer cases and other illnesses will get diagnosed at a later stage. In turn, costing more to treat.

I think the NHS has plenty of wastage going on that can be trimmed. It needs investment in technology infrastructure & then there’s a whole host of admin costs which can be cut back.
We also need to reeducate people on how to use the system properly. a lot of the overuse of the NHS comes from time wasters who can access self help at home, online on the nhs website & via a pharmacist. There’s no single blunt instrument to fix this.

Your friend needs to check his secretary is actually doing her job. Are appointment letters being sent out in a timely manner are reminders being send are contact details being updated.

They don’t work full time because they are driven by the tax system to only work part time. Like many people they don’t really fancy paying 62% tax/NI, plus in the case of the NHS scheme 13..5% pension contribution, for earning more than £100k. And I don’t blame them - that means if they work an extra day (above 3) they only see 25% of the gross value. The Government could sort out and simplify the income tax system in this country and increase output at a stroke if it wanted to. But it’s wedded to a ‘tax the rich’ ideology that actually reduces jobs, reduces the incentive to work and output, drives people out of work and out of the country, and reduces the tax take.

I’ve been fortunate to not have needed a GP once in the past 20 years (other than a smear test), so have no idea how it works now. I needed a lot of dental work about a decade ago, and I ended up switching to private because I couldn’t even get an appointment with the NHS. My private dentist is far superior and I get lots of preventative care to keep my teeth in good condition. Yet, I know people who have fixed their own fillings and had teeth fall out because they can’t afford to go private and cannot get an NHS appointment.

The way things are, people with money get treated anyway, and people without are on huge waiting lists. I would be happy to pay for medical care on a tiered basis - low income households pay less, chronic conditions pay once, etc. Higher incomes pay more. Everyone offered the same service.

I’d pay if it meant getting a better service from my GP than I currently do.

I would want them to be a heck of a lot better than they are if I’m paying! Particularly on the menopause.

Because of the ageing population & so many would then be exempt I'm not sure how it would help?

Yes I’d pay. We already have private insurance and I’d pay for nhs gps happily. I’d rather that then they raise taxes.

Oh yes, let’s blame the secretary. And also assume that they are a ‘she’. Nice bit of stereotyping 😂

If it helps, it’s the sort of clinic for which appointments are not made that far in advance, at a hospital that uses letter (god knows why in this day and age) email and text to communicate, with follow up phone calls for persistent no shows. They still don’t show up…

I think increased taxation, especially for those earning more than, say, £80k, is probably fairer and easier to administer

we have huge intergenerational inequality, we can't just keep targeting income taxes.

Yes i’d rather pay for GP appts than even more tax or more tax/NI on businesses that cripple them and discourage investment!

I agree with this. I would pay, if needed. But I'm assuming that this would be a system where it was means tested so that people on benefits, for example, didn't pay. And you'd end up with a system where those who were working and already paying for everything would be the ones paying and this would put some people off going in the first place, which is a risk to their health.

And the people who make lots of appointments and fail to turn up are unlikely to be the ones who fall into the paying category.

It would break the social contract for the NHS to start charging. It's either Free at the point of Use or it isn't.

if that started to happen it would be the thin end of a very pointy wedge, so absolutely NO on that one.

Im just going of my experience iv never intentionally missed an appointment but iv missed appointments iv had no clue about but it still goes into the figures. If a significant amount of people are missing an appointment like you said nobody turned up for their appointment the other morning there is an issue that is not normal.

Yes I would pay. I know a few people who go to the doctor all the time about trivial things so hopefully it would deter that sort of thing.

Also I think they should definitely scrap the triple lock. It's contributing to huge generational unfairness.

I would actually prefer a charge for ambulances as I think they are abused more then anything and I think its scary that you or your child could stop breathing and you dont know how long an ambulance could take. The majority of people who get ambulances could get a taxi.

But if where just talking about paying for gp appointments them people will go to a&e instead with their trivial things

I agree with this. When you put a barrier in place people are more likely to only seek help when they are really sick which will be more expensive and have a worse outcome for the patient. Also more likely to end up in A&E for something that could have been dealt with by the GP.

No. The government need to make the nhs more efficient and effective. No more consultants or woke roles costing millions but achieving zero.

As a higher rate tax paying family NO NO NO!

Means tested means it’s just another way to squeeze the middle!

Every single person should pay a nominal charge or nothing at all.

Look at Scotland and their free prescriptions, most would be happy to pay, but if they means tested it the cost of the admin would outstrip any profit made.