To think if the Scandinavians charge to see a GP maybe we should too?

[Pickleup]

We’ve just spent twelve days in a Scandinavian country, during which time my DC and I fell ill and we had to get medical help.

We went to the local state-run health centre, took a ticket from a machine (like a deli counter) and waited our turn for an emergency appointment (Ie one where you haven’t booked). They run these emergency sessions 7 days a week!

We saw lovely GPs in an impeccably clean surgery. One of them said I needed a blood test and I was expecting to have to come back another day but she took us over the hall and did it herself with a thumb prick - then they tested the blood in their own lab there and then and told me I was good to go. The whole thing took maybe seven minutes.

On your way out you pay at a machine - it was just under £10 to see the doctor, and £5 for the blood test. Children under 16 are totally free.
No charge for doctors certificates.

We had to make a follow up appointment on our way out and there was reasonable availability - we chose something three days later.

Compare to the our GP surgery...at home in the UK, there is currently a ten day wait for ANY appointment with a GP. If you want a specific GP it is 14 days. There are no emergency appointments at all now. Blood tests - you are talking a week wait for results, minimum.

Isn’t it time we started levying a small charge for the vast majority of adults who could pay?

GP appointments should be free.

But I really don't see why missed appointments shouldn't be charged for.

Obviously for it to work, there would be protections in place for people on low incomes and people with long term conditions.

No. The NHS needs more funding and a break from ill considered reforms and stealth privatisation.

Don't be so ridiculous. You obviously have missed the whole point of the (brilliant) NHS. Perhaps do some research...

I walked into my local surgery late on Tuesday morning. I was given an emergency appointment that afternoon. Some well run surgeries are still serving their population well.

But many are not well run and struggle to get enough GPs. Not enough young doctors want to train as GPs.

There us a wide range of ways of providing state funded care around the developed world. They all have their drawbacks. Co-payment is a massive downside from the UK point of view where 'free at the point of delivery' is culturally very important.

I’ve only ever paid to see the dr in my country - when I found out it was free here I was astonished!!!

I can get same day appointments with my GP, also phone appointments.

If there are no appointments left and you need to see a Dr that day you turn up at the end of clinic and they will see you before they go home.

NHS should not charge for GP service. My GP is in the middle of a large council estate which is classed as deprived, a £5 charge would make a huge difference. At the moment I'm in goodish (for me) health but I have been known to need to visit or receive a visit 2-3 times in a week.

I live in Denmark and Healthcare is free here. Where were you in Scandinavia?

Obviously all places are going to have some private options, including the UK.

Political suicide. Even George Osborne realised that.

It works in some ways but is detrimental in others. There is a 55 Euro charge in Ireland too, 100 for a&e, those on a low income can avail of a medical card to cover costs, but the majority pay.
It stops all the over unnecessary visits for Calpol or canisten, if you can deal with your issue over the counter you will , It is the people slightly above the breadline who suffer. If they've a big mortgage, many outgoings they put off going to a gp.
An astonishing rate of cancer is now diagnosed in a&e in Ireland as people put off going to the gp and end up very sick.

The trouble is what about people with ongoing health conditions? Asthma? Mental health problems? Diabetes? A whole host of problems can lead to people regularly seeing the GP. Thats without any other illness on top and personally it would put me off attending as often as I need to.

I don't know where in Scandinavia the OP visited but I live in Sweden. Here there's a small charge up to a certain amount (which I've forgotten) and then it's free for the rest of the year. I have multiple appointments every week so very quickly get my freecard.

I find that waiting times are pretty much the same as the UK. Sometimes you get seen quickly, sometimes it takes way too long. Depends on why you need to be seen, where you are and how busy you are.

I have no problem personally with the charges because I'm comfortable off and have never been in a position where I've had to think twice about treatment. But my DD up until recently was a student and is now just starting out working and I know she has put off going to the dr's or picking up prescriptions a few times. She's in hospital at the moment, has been since Wednesday last week, and I know she's worrying about the daily hospital charge and wants to get out sooner than later because of it.

Tbh a lot of missed appointments are elderly people with poor memory, people who've made an appointment and then been admitted to hospital etc. Its not all lazy buggers that can't be bothered to cancel

*how busy they are.

I'm impressed that so many posters have such a short wait for a GP appointment. The last two times I made an appointment, I had to wait 3 weeks and 4 weeks, after spending a minimum of 45 minutes trying to get through on the phone to make an appointment. I haven't done it, but I can absolutely see why people go to A&E rather than see a GP if they have something that feels urgent.

Plus the dr can catch a breath, many are happy for a couple. Missed appointments as so many people go over their time allocated!

Broomstick is yours an online system?

Clearly not an online system as she spent 45 minutes on the phone.

No. I'm immunocompromised (will be for life) and have to pay for my prescriptions and I see the GP a LOT!

Plus the dr can catch a breath, many are happy for a couple
If that is true it is disgraceful, I assume they get allocated lunch breaks like most employees, they should employ a secretary to phone each person with an appointment in the morning to confirm they are coming, it would cost a lot less than the missed appointments over a year.
The UK wastes some serious cash.

No way do i want to start paying for a gp appointment. Today £10 is a small charge but tomorrow another government will say we need to raise the charges and before we know it we’ll be like the poster up thread in Ireland £50/£60 or it’ll be like prescription charges that have gradually been ‘affordable’ to now expensive on a few items. No thank you the GP and and NHS must remain free.

OP if you’d like to pay for the GP feel free to use Tapdoc or one of the new paid for GP services.

I think we just need more GPs. I don't actually believe the reason we have to wait is that there are loads of people in there who don't really need to see a doctor but are going for fun because it's free.

Yes more GPs but also an end to fund-holding.

GPs are noticeably less keen to refer since they have been running their own budgets. The inevitable result has been undiagnosed patients are clogging up primary care taking up multiple appointments with the same set of symptoms until either they hit crisis point and end up in A&E or a referral is finally made. People are arriving in outpatients clinic sicker and with more complications, apparently.

Actually, I looked and they've introduced am online system since I last used the GP. Previously there was a system but to register for it you needed to go to the surgery within office hours with the passport and proof of address of each family member.

I just registered for the new system, so hopefully that will work better. Thanks to everyone on this thread for pushing for me in the right direction to discover what is hopefully a change for the better.

In Ireland we pay......50 euros to see a gp every time!! It’s an absolute disgrace in my view. People actually end up not going because of the charge and when someone does go there is usually a very long wait (it’s totally standard for me to wait at least an hour for my appointment, often longer) as they usually ask a lot for their 50 quid which is fair enough.
They only introduced free under 6’s round 4 years ago. But everyone outside of that is 50 euros unless unemployed or low income. I think it’s madness that we pay high taxes and have to pay for drs on top of this. People should be marching in the streets. Instead the Irish chose to march about water charges instead to get their water properly treated..... which charge would have covered around 4 gp visits!
Sorry for the rant but for such a small country it is obsene for us to have to pay 50 euros per visit.

Broomstick you are right it's a bit inconvenient to need to go to the surgery for the set up of the online but hopefully you'll find it a much better service, we can see tge same appointments as the receptionists however to get a same day appointment we need to log on early as each day's appointments are av to book from 7am so we log on at 8am if we nerd an app. We can also book app in the future and don't need to log on early for those.

I'm in Ireland and will be paying €70 to see my GP this afternoon - €60 for the appointment and €10 for blood tests. She wants me to make 2 appointments 24 hours apart with the practice nurse to have a 24 hours blood pressure monitor fitted. That will probably cost around another €150.

A lot of GPs are complaining about the number of parents bringing children for appointments with trivial ailments since it became free for U6's. I'm finding it takes longer to get an appointment since then.