To think NHS gp's should work like NHS dentists

[Gaballout]

It's so hard to get an appointment. Why don't GPS run like the NHS dentist to stop time wasters and people not showing up.

So charge people a small amount for an appointment and if you're poor you don't pay (just like NHS dentists).

The NHS is under funded and tax rises they just won't bring in. This could bring in millions a year and there's no outcry about NHS dentist costs.

It's not exactly hard to charge people £15 an appointment

Hope you are kidding.
People are going to food banks cos they are so skint, don't think they could magic up 15 quid.
If I had to go more than say once a month I would be awfully close to the breadline. I get one prescription a month and some months I wish I didn't have to.
And I am not particularly broke.

I said it's not hard to administer the £15 not pay it!

Already said poor people that couldn't afford it wouldn't have to pay it...

I do agree we need more funding for the nhs but I don't like the idea of charging for appointments.

I think there is a massive waste of money from drs prescribing 100 paracetomal at a time. Why can't their be another "prescription" which you can take to a pharmacy and buy the quantity prescribed from off the shelf at shelf price.

Nice to hear about Sweden

Op. Did you not read the bit about the maximum annual charge in Sweden. It is lower than the cost of a prepaid annual prescription card in England.

Lunde does "healthcare" cover dentists and opticians and prescriptions etc?

There is currently a big campaign about women missing smears. Charging for visits to the GPs is not going to help that. (Have not rtft so apologies if someone already said this).

I think you have too simplistic a view of what constitutes 'poor' tbh - I wouldn't be classed as poor according to my salary but due to the number of appointments I have to have and the fact that I live alone so only have a single income I could not afford to pay for appointments as you are suggesting.

Already said poor people that couldn't afford it wouldn't have to pay it...

What is poor to you? Because my partner and I both currently work full time and £15 per appointment would be a stretch for me?

I'm in Germany atm & there's certainly a difference!

I needed a scan-phoned up one place, couldn't fit me in for 2wks & I had to phone elsewhere as it was an unacceptable wait.

Bloods taken at Gp before a certain time-results back next day.

I did have to wait 2months to see a consultant & at was apologies all round at the delay.

Have to pay for it though.

So charge people a small amount for an appointment and if you're poor you don't pay (just like NHS dentists)
It isn't as simple as"poor" though. You have to have a really low income or be in certain benefits but that still leaves lots of people who wouldn't afford it who wouldn't qualify for free. Lots of working people who don't qualify for free dentists who would wouldn't go until it got so serious they ended up in hospital costing more

Any appointment you have booked yourself over the phone, in person or online should result in a fine if you don't show up for it.

I think you have too simplistic a view of what constitutes 'poor' tbh - I wouldn't be classed as poor according to my salary but due to the number of appointments I have to have and the fact that I live alone so only have a single income I could not afford to pay for appointments as you are suggesting

Exactly!!!

Gaballout I'm in Germany - GP and all other medical treatment free at the point of use, paid for by compulsory health insurance deducted from salary and calculated as a percentage of earnings. Those on benefits are covered by the state (exactly the same insurance), non earning spouses and dependent children covered by a parent at no extra percentage charge. (Private insurance is available to those earning over a certain amount but ironically people usually choose it because it's cheaper when you're a healthy high earner but it bites people in the arse as they age and is hard to get back onto the public scheme once you've opted out).

Free at the point of use, GP appointments always on the day, a culture of if in doubt go to the doctor, always, frequent free medical check ups encouraged for children and over 40s. Self referral to many specialists - smears are done at your ob/gyne, most children are registered with a paediatrician and see that paediatrician for everything, though can go to the GP if you prefer them, obvious ENT issue you self refer straight to ENT specialist for example.

Free at the point of use and much more user friendly. No attitude of "don't bother the important doctor unless your head is hanging off".

I hear this, and the missed appointments is an issue.

But. I can count on the fingers of one hand how often I've gone into an appointment on time - so clearly if everyone turned up, they wouldn't cope - and that's in a surgery where I can fairly reliably get an appointment within a couple of days. If it was a surgery where I had to book weeks ahead, I can imagine that leads to both forgetting, and the reason for the appointment resolving itself/being solved elsewhere.

I've seen a tweet from a GP who was sat twiddling her thumbs when patients didn't turn up - that surprises me, because I've never been in an empty waiting room, I'm surprised that no patients would have been happy to see her if the receptionist had suggested that they could get into an appointment early.

I agree OP. In most countries you need to pay something and there are better health outcomes than in the UK. It doesn't seem to have made people not bother going. The bar should be fairly high to make sure that only those that can afford it pay, and of course caps where people have to go regularly

The current system can't continue. It's not working. It needs more resources. Why should it still be free at the point of use? It was set up like that a lifetime ago and doesn't seem fit for purpose any more. People live longer, are fatter, are lonelier and there are plenty who abuse the current system (going to thr doctor if they have a cold or becayse they want someone to talk to) without consequence. We either pay more tax or find another way of raising money. We pay less per head on health than any other developed country.

The percentage of earnings we pay for health care is 15% - which is huge if you're on a higher wage, not much if you do a few part time hours... Obviously...

Adults prescriptions are not free, children's are. I forget whether they were free in pregnancy, I think they may have been though fortunately I didn't need much. Certain adults get them free including people who are registered as disabled.

It took me 5 appointment to get a cancer diagnosis.

If I'd had to pay I'd have given up.

It doesn't seem to have made people not bother going it won't be about bothering for lots of families, it'll be about bills or doctors. And not those on very low incomes or benefits who qualify for free dental care, but the ones just over the limit.

Yes you get free prescriptions if you're pregnant for up to a year after the baby is due.

I get carers allowance so not entitled to any help with medical costs, but Op's proposed charge is a quarter of my carers allowance. Its not hard to see why I might have to decide whether or not to go to the smear or go in about my chest infection. Especially given the rule about one appt per issue

There’s deffinately things that should not be funded by the nhs for free

One thing too is that we see a GP to begin with for everything most countries you go direct to the right kind of doctor fr what’s wrong with youn so missing out the pointless trip to the GP,

For the sake of discussion @Maryjoyce what?

I think it's a good idea, but the bar for paying should be set fairly high. We don't want a situation whereby anyone doesn't go when they should have when they can't afford it. Free for kids. Capped at say 3x per year for those who need it regularly. But, yes the millionaire 70 year old, who visits every day, shouldn't be getting it for free.

"It's so hard to get an appointment. Why don't GPS run like the NHS dentist to stop time wasters and people not showing up."
It may be hard to get a GP appointment, but in many areas of the country it's impossible to get an NHS dentist, never mind an appointment with them.

"So charge people a small amount for an appointment and if you're poor you don't pay (just like NHS dentists)."
This risks people not making an appointment in the first place. And the sort of person who would hesitate to make an appointment because of a charge being levied is likely to be the sort of person who needs it most. And the idea that the poor wouldn't be expected to pay - cloud cuckoo land I'm afraid. The poor are precisely the people our government soak the most, on account of they don't have the resources to fight for their rights.

"The NHS is under funded and tax rises they just won't bring in. This could bring in millions a year and there's no outcry about NHS dentist costs."
If you haven't heard the outcry over the lack of NHS dentists and the costs, you really really haven't been listening.

2/10. Must try harder.

I've not had problems ever getting an NHS dentist. Not saying that system is perfect by any means.

A cancer diagnosis would be far better if we had a better health service like most of Europe!

I haven’t booked a dentist appointment in over a year because I don’t want a crappy 5 minute look over my teeth to be told they’re fine and then be charged over £20 for it. I can’t rememver if it’s £24 or £17, but still a lot of money for a 5 min check.

Last year I had to go to the gp 4 times. I have 3 young children, and I need to keep myself healthy and in check so I can be there for them. If I hadn’t have gone to the gp the first time, I would have gone on to develop severe pneumonia that would have needed hospitalisation. I pay national insurance and taxes, I don’t need to pay again to see a doctor. I don’t mind paying a share for poor/disabled people who can’t pay NI. Somewhere along the lines we’ve lost our humanity and it sickens me. This is why the country is in a shithole.