To ask if you would pay for GP visits

[justanotherhappyflunkie]

Been talking with various friends who all agree they would rather pay a nominal sum to see a GP rather than the current system.

I have lived in a country that does this (free for children, disabled people, discounts for beneficiaries and long term sickness) and it was great. Same day appointments, good range of doctors, quick referrals.

The UK equivalent of this would be around £20 per visit.

AIBU to suggest it is the system that could help the NHS? prepares for a flaming!

Yeah that's grand but my friend has moved to Ireland from the uk and can't get private health insurance due to pre existing medical conditions.

Id sooner they make it compulsory to pay for missed appointments.

That would be impossible. It would cost more than it saved to pursue the debt.

Well the choice is surely to pay - and then the GP refunds you immediately you TURN UP?

If there are millions of missed appointments that would fix that

Obviously there would have to be a system where if someone was too ill to go and had to go to hospital they also got their money back from the appointment they 'didn't turn up to'

And how many extra admin staff would that require?

The fear is thought that I earned too much for any kind of benefits or exemptions but struggled to make ends meet. If I ended up
not seeing a GP just down to cost it could end badly.

I had private medical care when I lived in Asia. Whilst it was good at the point of use, it had other problems. The biggest one was the overuse of medication. So, I would go to the doctors for minor things, as was encouraged, and they would throw meds at me;

Sore throat - oh, you need antibiotics.
DC had been offered antibiotics 3 times before he was 2.
Pain in the tummy = 6 weeks of tests for cancer, in the end, a charcoal tablet fixed it.

When everything is private, they start to over treat ailments to maximise profits. I was told by friends to say no to antibiotics unless the illness was quite serious. Funnily enough, where I lived, the locals had a 1st class health service but were some of the sickliest people I ever met because they took meds for everything. They had flu all the time and illnesses that may moderately affect most people but put them in the hospital.

Why is it pointless comparing the UK with EU countries? Politicians do this all the time, trying to convince the public that the NHS is the envy of the world, when it really isn't.

Why is it not useful to compare the UK's spending on health (far less per capita than other, comparable countries) and the ratios of doctors to patients (far lower in the UK than in some EU countries, many of which have almost twice the number of doctors per capita than the UK has).

Why do Germany, Austria and Denmark have hardly any waiting lists? Why is nobody there waiting 15 hours for an ambulance or 15 months for a hospital appointment?

Most of the EU countries have some for of state/national healthcare service, paid for through various financing models. The compulsory healthcare insurance usually found in one form or another is very similar to the UK National Insurance in that the payment is a percentage of the employees wage, with a similar contribution being made from the employer. The big difference is that the funds are not in the hands of the government and are ringfenced for healthcare.

Excellent healthcare is affordable and available throughout most of Europe. The UK could have this too, but not if the voters keep voting for parties that treat the NHS as a political football, and not if they keep electing a Conservative government that believes that everything has a price, that puts profit over people and that would gladly introduce the American insurance model if it meant profits for their donors and chums.

@strumpert That's rough. I don't know what your friend does for a living but if they or their partner can get work in a company that offers a health insurance plan then waiting periods for cover on pre-existing health conditions are waived. Just something that's good to know.

But most people don't need to see their GP very often, it just gives you peace of mind if you do. And so there is capacity for those who do need to see their GP every week.

Other than smear tests, and getting a referral to dermatology back in 2017, I can't remember the last time I went to the GP.

@Havanananana
I agree with you about how other countries fund healthcare but because there are differences, direct comparison of costs, services and success is difficult.We are a country with no funding for health outside the taxation system. So we are different and outcomes are different. That’s clearly why we need revisions.

NI is NOT just for health care. NI Act was 1916. Whilst it had some limited provision for healthcare for industrial workers it was not about setting up the NHS. It still isn’t paying for it. The NHS was set up in 1948. Before that, health care was generally paid for. Your state pension depends on your NI record. See attached from the government.

Even when you include people like you who never come in the calculations, the average person sees their GP 7 times per year. For which we get funded around £120 per patient.

Nope couldn't afford this and wouldn't be fair on my disabled adult dd and I work 2 jobs to try and survive now

It wouldn't affect me personally as I have only once in the last 18 years seen the gp for something non pregnancy related. And as I'm done with being pregnant I can afford £20 once every 18 years.

but to make it fair, you would have to make it free for people who are entitled to free prescriptions. And offer a pre payment certificate so that people with chronic conditions can pay £200 in advance and get free gp appointments for the rest of the year.

it would work out that only a small minority would be paying for appointments. And those that do would be one of those people like me who only see the gp once every 10-20 years. So the money saved would be minimal.

No. It is the start of a slippery slope. Our GPs are our route in to all the other services of the NHS. If we had to pay, even if there was a discount, it would deter many people from going and they'd likely be the ones who need the services most. Ill health is undoubtedly linked to poverty for many.

I would personally fine the non-attendees the full cost. With an appeal for extenuating circumstances. At a recent appointment the nurse told me half of her patients don’t turn up because ‘they make an appointment then they forget’ - this is no excuse and they should be fined.

This post feels like the government testing the waters

To get an actual service? Yes I would pay and actually have had to go private as my GP has said that since my child has a 'nice' family, his condition would not be treated by the NHS. One week of medication obtained after a private diagnosis and his life has been transformed but it is likely he'll be burdened with paying for a lifetime of private prescriptions while we continue to pay for an NHS that denies us treatment.

@Jobabob Report your GP. Medical treatment is not decided on the basis of whether you are a nice family or not.

@Timeforaswim Of course it is. Do to healthcare what they have done to dentistry. In my area NHS dentists only take on as new patients children. To see an NHS dentist otherwise as a new patient you have to ring 111 and you only get an NHS dentist if you are deemed to need emergency care i.e they won't actually let anyone die from sepsis from an abscess. Everyone else who does not already have an NHS dentist either pays privately or goes without dentistry.

The result? I see people with beautiful cosmetic dentistry and more people than ever with dreadful teeth.

@UWhatNow If a nurse really said that to you is totally unprofessional and a bit thick.

People who are paying are going to expect a better service than they get at present. As this scheme wouldn't increase the number of GPs available I can't see this would be forthcoming.

Private GPs are already available for those prepared to pay. They cost more than 20 pounds.

It would simply lead to more GPs retiring as they go fuck this.

In Kuwait we paid 2kd (so about £5) in the government clinic. No appointments just walked in and waited. It was free for Kuwaitis. Saw a doctor normally within half an hour and any medications included in that price. Private clinics were about £20 equivalent and meds extra on top. I had to take my son to get an X-ray and it cost about £10 in a government hospital. I also had to get one another time but went to a private hospital as it was nearer and it cost me £200 all in.
In Malaysia now have only visited the doctors (private) for minor things and paid around £6 for consultation and then around £15 for meds ( around 4/5 items). We have (not very good at the minute ) insurance coverage so have been able to claim some of these back.

I would rather pay if it's a only for a small thing.

@constantindigestion Kuwait has a system like the NHS. The difference is it is properly funded. There are constant public concerns that expats are practising health tourism.