What should be free but isn't

[mummyrabbitpeppapig]

I'll start. Sanitary protection and condoms.

I don't believe in "free stuff". Everything has a cost.

Bus travel to school.

Inhalers, and warfarin tablets.

luckylucky current rules are such that if we refuse to prescribe and patient complaints, NHSE will tell us to apologise. No one will back us up. I spent hours once dealing with a four page complaint because I dared suggest that the mother of several young kids might keep some paracetamol at home.

Also agree with school uniforms.

@lurkinghusband

I wonder if this thread would have developed this way if the title had been "What should we spend other peoples taxes on ?" ?

Oh FFS there's always one!

'other peoples taxes?' You know, some people on here do actually work and pay taxes themselves!

Nappies free?? Why on earth? You decide to have a child; you pay for it. Why should others pay?

And anyway, none of these things here are free - condoms, birth control etc. They're being paid for somewhere by someone. They may be 'free' at point of purchase but we'll be paying for them through taxes.

I think everyone should pay tiered prescriptions and for GP appts. They should also be fined for not turning up to an appt.

I think people value what they have to pay for more then they value freebies. Might make some people think about going to the GP for a cold or some other bonkers reason.

can'tdothis - I think (but its only what I think - not fact) that when the rules were brought in about which conditions you should/shouldn't have to pay for, I think they believed it wouldn't be an issue for CF'ers because the life expectancy was so much lower.
But they should change it.

Soap

Public toilets, especially in train stations

NHS prescriptions need a total reform.

Calpol and other low cost otc meds should not be free except to families who genuinely can't afford them otherwise and they should also be accessed via the pharmacy rather than a gp apt.

Meds for lifelong illnesses should be free.

I'd be interested to see if the figures added up in terms of stopping one to find the other.

WTF are you on about, Figaro??

More and more our freedoms are being eroded by governments, multinationals and 'conventions'.

Water

When I say pay for GP apps I mean people that can afford to.

I think someone already said this - training for healthcare workers and teachers. Obviously assuming that they then work in that field in the UK.

Hospital car parks too. I wouldn't mind paying a small charge when going to a non-serious out patients appointment but I just think how awful it is to charge seriously ill people or visitors who have just lost a loved one.

Healthcare
Education
Water

I don't agree that nappies should be free. You choose to have a child, most people get child benefit and tax credits to go towards the costs of having that child such as nappies.

Prescriptions should be free but should not be given for OTC medications except where they need to be in higher doses or quantities than can be bought OTC (i.e. for chronic or severe conditions not just a cold)

A million YYs to water. It falls from the freeking sky. I loathe detest dispise paying for it.
Sanitary protection
Medication. People shouldn't be out of pocket for sick.
YY also to wine.

Newjob - but how can you tell who can afford to and who can't? You can use 'those entitled to benefits', but, as I previously stated, I'm on very low pay but (restricted hours contracts, no dependent children) I'm not entitled to any benefits, but I can't afford to pay.

Should I turn up to every GP appointment with 6 months pay slips in my pocket?

Public toilets

actual title should be: 'what should we all pay for whether we use it or not?'

I don't have a problem with that, it is the way a decent society has to work.

Wish I'd bloody remembered I could get free condoms before I forked out for them last week

Also are eye tests not free? I've never paid for one? Scotland if that makes a difference

Water is "free". But what about the work to clean it, and ensure it's fit for consumption ? To build reservoirs, well, pipes and drains.

Who is going to do that "for free".

The public purse is not infinite unfortunately.

It doesn't need to be. By and large we all buy bog roll, essential medications, glasses when we need them and so on. Paying for these indirectly via our taxes rather than directly at the counter doesn't make us any poorer - obv there's not going to be a perfect correspondence between any individual's spend on bog roll or glasses and what they pay in tax but at a population level it's fine.

People understand that "free at the point of use" doesn't mean "grows on trees". They're not saying that. They're defining the things that, in a civilised society, they believe nobody should go without. Nothing wrong with that.

Can I add apprenticeships and Masters courses for people who've been made redundant?

Also, caffeinated drinks for parents of children under the age of 3.

notknownatthisaddress - I agree about uni and grades.

As a society we cannot provide free uni education for everyone. Let's give it to the academic kids and give good quality training / apprenticeships to those who are less academic.