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!

And I think it would lead to some GPs quitting. Who wants an ill person kicking off in their waiting room because the GP will not see them as they refuse to pay? Violence against GP staff will increase.

People are struggling to put money on their pre-payment meters. Adding a £20 charge to see a GP is unhelpful and frankly dangerous. People would just head to A&E in desperation or nor seek medical advice when they should.

A £20 fee charged for a missed appointment might be better.

And to be fair, I rang my GP 11am Tuesday morning and was seen by a gp at 3.15 same day.

Where abouts in the UK? I'm pretty sure this would be on the news if it was the case.

@MintJulia That is good to hear. I too get seen by the GP the same day.
I do know though I never ring with minor things so they always squeeze me in.

How does paying £20 per appointment make things better?

Where does the money go to improve things? How do people get a better service? Are GPs being paid that money directly? Or is it going to the NHS black hole where it won't touch the sides?

The only thing it would do is deter many people from going (and some of that might be appropriate but a lot won't be) so appointments might be a bit easier to come by. Won't help onward referrals, escalation of care, tests results etc.

This .

Yes, I would.

Not sure it answers your problems though.

Think of all the extra admin work to collect it or prove exemption.
What about emergencies where no one has any cards or money on them?
What if someone cant afford it but are not on benefits?
Most will get it refunded or free as presumably benefits and free prescription people will get an exemption.The income overall won't be anywhere as much as you might initially imagine.
Extra admin for genuine cancellations.

I honestly think they would have run calculations on this over the years and I bet the fact they have implemented anything means its simply not worth it.

It would work for us but it would filter out people who can't spare it, make people less likely to get their child's dodgy rash checked out etc. The threshold for having to pay would be too low and it would always be an unexpected expense.

The problem is not that we have too many patients. There are not enough doctors.

Not to mention the receptionists / pharmacist who will also be on the receiving end.

A lot of NHS clinicians are against privatisation as a principle (knowing exactly how it will affect patients if it comes in) and they will leave too (me included)

I never said it was a good idea.

I'll go private if I need a GP despite not being near a high income earner.

The taxes we pay clearly aren't enough to fund the NHS. Getting rid of some over managed pen pushers would help but the system is broken. Its probably unfixable.

Excellent points.

Whoa, why so nasty to me? My job is none of your business!!! Fucking hell

The taxes we pay clearly aren't enough to fund the NHS. Getting rid of some over managed pen pushers would help but the system is broken. Its probably unfixable.

@justanotherhappyflunkie
Who are the over managed pen pushers?

It's fine if people can afford it and don't need to access the service much. If people can't afford it/need to access the service alot what are they supposed to do? Or would this be income based?

@justanotherhappyflunkie It was fixed pretty quickly last time Labour was elected. What we have now is what happened last time the Conservatives were in for years and years. They destroy the NHS every time.

sorry I was trying to quote a PP who mentioned something about management positions that could be removed. I think I mis worded sorry

No time to read the whole thread but I am in Ireland and pay 60euro every time to see my doctor. Would love it to be a 20quid equivalent!

@Yesterdaywasntreal They go to A and E or go without healthcare. People who want this do not really care about poorer people dying younger. They will just blame them for their lifestyle rather than a lack of access to healthcare.

Don’t worry about it. Fine to ask it’s hardly an unthought of topic - other countries do it

I think so long as there was means testing in place so the very vulnerable didn't lose out on GP care, I'd be fine with this. £20 for a consultation is fine. (Provided the money the NHS saved was reinvested elsewhere in the system - more nurses, more beds etc and not drained from the system. I want to see a better NHS - functioning A&E depts, ambulances that arrive within 10 mins, immediate cancer care etc.)

'What I would like the government to propose is how they can cut back on their own salaries and expenditure first and reroute some of those costs to the NHS also actually have worthwhile meetings within the NHS to overhaul it. Charge for missed appointments. That is the sign of good leadership and would be steps towards fixing the NHS.'

This ^ It is fine for them most likely getting private health care.

That's how it works where I live. Low income earners, pensioners, and children can access GP care free of charge, everyone else pays. Part of the fee is paid by the government, the rest is paid by the user (unless you're entitled to a free service). It works really well.

89.7% of prescriptions are issued without charge, so extrapolating (I know it's not perfect but the best guess) over 80% of appointments will be given without charge.

*'babsanderson · Today 13:08

@Yesterdaywasntreal They go to A and E or go without healthcare. People who want this do not really care about poorer people dying younger. They will just blame them for their lifestyle rather than a lack of access to healthcare.'*

It's awful, I don't understand those with the 'I'm okay so it doesn't matter if others are okay' attitude whatsoever.

If my tax is reduced accordingly. I pay an enormous amount of tax. The NHS is a black hole - it can’t be fixed by simple throwing more money at it. There needs to be a fundamental review of end to end healthcare (which sits across multiple budgets), what the NHS is for and how we train and retain more HCPs. There isn’t the political will to do that.