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!

Some nurses can prescribe drugs.

Consultant nurses can. I have never met one. They are well paid and are small in number.

I'd be happy to but I want my tax and national insurance back that is currently going into the nhs first. Then I'll happily pay for health insurance instead and GP visits.

That isn’t the case.

www.rcn.org.uk/get-help/rcn-advice/non-medical-prescribers

I saw a specialist nurse when I had been misdiagnosed. The diagnosis made sense at the early stages of my illness, but the nurse did not have enough expertise to recognise that as it developed the diagnosis was wrong.

@Blossomtoes You are right. Some nurses can prescribe from very limited medication.

Slight variation on your idea.

You pay £20 when booking your appt and if you turn up you get given the £20 back.

If its something you could have got sorted at the Pharmacist or by buying lemsips in B&M you only get £5 back.

That would cut down on so many wasted trivial appointments.

I already do. I use a private GP and get seen in a reasonable time and don’t have to battle with a bloody receptionist to get an appointment. Well worth the cost to avoid the stress of the NHS

Would women be expected to pay the same as men given our procedures like cervical screening and mammograms are more painful

If its something you could have got sorted at the Pharmacist or by buying lemsips in B&M you only get £5 back.

That idea is fraught with problems! DD worked in a pharmacy until recently. They had abuse from customers frequently, as the patient had been told by the GP to go buy a remedy over the counter at a pharmacy. DD often found that the remedy was not licenced for that use - say eye drops for a 6 month old baby; when they were only licenced for use on children over 2. Then the customer got really annoyed - and didn't believe DD, saying:

"But the GP told me.....Well, what do you know - you are only a shop girl?"

before storming out! DD has spent 3.5 years doing courses, studying minor ailments, their treatments and the medications; using the same websites, as her partner, a GP! Then, customers get annoyed, because the GP promised an electronic prescription would be sent in the afternoon - and they didn't send it! Or, they promised the patient, they'd prescribe three items; but when the prescription came, it only had 2 items! Patients trying to buy over the counter drugs like codeine, because they are addicted!

Its the pharmacy staff, who would get the abuse over your suggestion, when it went pear shaped at the pharmacy!

Ive had some really good advice from our Boots pharmacist which turned out to be spot on.

Spoken like a true Tory.
What about appointments missed for all the mental health issues or do we just see in black and white now and treat everyone the same.
You start charging then you start excluding

@JenniferBooth They are good if you want to check interactions with drugs i.e. over the counter and prescribed medication. But I find if it is anything that is not minor then they just say see your GP.

@FarmGirl78 So if you do not have £20, no appointment.

Haven't read full thread but assume obvious points like NI payments, NHS principles, repeated visits for monitoring/chronic conditions, people choosing between eating, heating and doctor, squeezed middle etc have all been covered.

All those saying "it would be free for low income"... you might want to have a look at what the govt typically consider low income. It's far, far lower than one might reasonably expect. I could very easily see it bring decided that £7500 a year is the threshold.

History has shown the £ never goes where it should, just into pockets of the already wealthy. They do a good enough job of that themselves without us all clambering over each other begging to be allowed to pay more. If you would be happy to pay for appointments then feel free to do so by going private without insisting everyone is dragged into it too, whether they can afford to or not.

Happily, as long as everyone has to pay - albeit a very nominal fee for those on low income. I think even a nominal fee would encourage people to consider whether they need the appointment or whether this is the correct service to use - for example, maybe they’d be just as well going to ask a pharmacist.

What if you don't have the £20 in the first place?

I imagine a lot of people would t go to the GP. It could cost the NHS more if people delay treatment.

Would not ^

@crookedhoosie Tough luck. The conservatives do not care about poor people.

In Ireland you pay around 50 pounds for a GP appointment, unless you are on lower incomes/disability and then it’s all free. My relatives can usually get same day appointments, but not in all places. Around 50% have private healthcare (and even then will still pay 50 usually to see a local GP but could then be referred privately if needed an operation).

A&E departments are very busy like in the UK, and you have to pay to attend A & E, doctors are overwhelmed in a lot of places like here. It hits the ‘lower / middle’ incomes in Ireland more as they do not have free services, but have to pay. There are also shortages and wait lists for some areas.

So on one level it works, in another it’s still overwhelmed, even with half the population basically paying for their operations. So whilst the NHS is breaking, I think there are many factors and all have to be addressed, not just a quick fix politically.

Marvellous - two tier GP system to match the two tier dentist system. That worked well

Agreed. They destroyed NHS dentistry, so now want to destroy NHS healthcare.

There’s nothing wrong with two levels of care. What happens is that dentists cannot get enough money on NHS contracts so they walk away. Just like NHS staff working for private health companies . The consultants do it and so do the nurses. It’s already 2 tier but the vast majority on the lower tier get a raw deal for basic services.

However far too many people try and see a doctor and don’t manage their own health.

If people can pay they should not clog up waiting rooms for NHS GPS. The private health offered is far more efficient. So as long as GP services are good for the majority, what others do is irrelevant. If payments need to be made by the majority, so be it. this is needed to improve the service for others.

Id prefer to not see a two tier system enforced by the introduction of payment to see a GP.

There’s already too many inequalities access to health care shouldn’t be one.