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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

We need to start charging for NHS services

750 replies

Fragmentedbrain · 28/07/2025 11:03

£15 for the GP
£20 for A&E
NHS routes to paid-for fast track treatment
Options to pay for nicer rooms

We need to stop putting working people on disability benefits for want of a functioning health service it's barbaric

OP posts:
Rhaenys · 29/07/2025 23:26

I always say this, but I think a massive part of the current problems with A&E are 111 sending people there inappropriately. You’ll get posters in A&E saying you don’t need to attend for sunburn, see an pharmacist etc. but 111 are advising people to do just that.

Chinsupmeloves · 29/07/2025 23:31

I think everyone needs to pay sth towards prescriptions, just a token of £1.

Newbie2025 · 29/07/2025 23:39

DeedlessIndeed · 28/07/2025 11:31

Unpopular, but I think abuse of the NHS should be charged.

Missed appointments should have a fine. Misuse of A&E should have a fine.

Yes to pay for nicer rooms, nicer food etc. It could subsidise the other areas.

I am on the fence about having to pay for GP appointments. In principle maybe, but chronic conditions that require repeat visits should only pay once. Shouldn't be penalised for having a condition.

I suppose maybe they could charge for the initial appointment and then if you are genuinely ill and need treatment (including ongoing) then the initial feel would be refunded and there would be no charges for ongoing treatment.

Not sure if the OP was suggesting it as a way to deter people who aren't genuinely ill or maybe have a bug/flu/illness that could be treated by a local pharmacy or will go with rest?

Again I suppose that would be open to its flaws as some people could be really ill but hold off going as they don't want to be charged and then delay their treatment.

It's one of them where the disingenuous cause issues for genuine people unfortunately and I don't know what the answer is to fix it all (if there's anyway it can be fixed or if it's too far into decline)

dcthatsme · 29/07/2025 23:45

Sadly, or should I say interestingly, other European healthcare systems where there is a pay-if-you-can-afford-it system in place survival rates for diseases like cancer are better than in the UK. The Irish system seems to work well - my parents-in-law and their elderly neighbours get amazing care compared to what they'd get over here. You can apply for a Medical Card or GP card and with one of these you get a reduction or free care depending on your income. It's means-tested. I believe the elderly and younger children go free anyway. If you aren't eligible ie you're on a higher income you pay 45-65€ per GP visit. Higher tax-payers could afford this in the UK. I think our system has become unsustainable and was set up at a very different time: no CAT scans, no MRI, no chemo, no survival of babies born at 28 weeks, no life support machines, no medically induced comas etc. All this care is amazing and life-saving but the bill for this level of care is way higher than the much simpler care you got in the 1940s.

T1Dmama · 30/07/2025 00:10

I think there should be tighter regulations similar to if we went abroad….
it should be free for us, but people coming here on holiday or moving here from other countries should not get free treatment that they’ve never paid into!….
my brother moved abroad and wasn’t entitled to any support with medical bills until he’d paid into the country for several years!

HRTQueen · 30/07/2025 00:14

I agree the nhs needs reforming and we should look at the far better services in France and Germany and how their models work

But charging people at the point of service the nhs is no longer the nhs it’s very foundations are that it is free at the point of service for all

viques · 30/07/2025 00:27

One way to improve funding would be to ensure that visitors/ tourists/ ex pats who have lived abroad for years pay for the services they receive, whether these be for emergency treatment or for the treatment of existing conditions. In other countries with a health service people have to provide proof of their entitlement with a health card or similar before getting treatment. We already have a system whereby people here on some work visas have to pay up front for being enrolled on the system. I would like to see a tightening up of treatment options for tourists, visitors and long term expats. I take out insurance when I travel abroad, and would not expect to be treated for free, and I think this needs to be an expectation, not an option for UK visitors.

(I am not advocating this system for people seeking asylum btw, I think that would be impossible to police and would in all likelihood be self defeating economically in many instances)

Misssssssfoxx · 30/07/2025 01:19

JoyfulLife · 29/07/2025 19:29

FREEBIES? a lot of us pay huge amounts in taxes. why do you think we pay these taxes? We are supposed to have good healthcare, a pension at a decent age just as the current pensioners have been getting some from 55-60 yrs old. Pension in this country has becone ponzy scheme.None of these are happening. More so the services are so appaling I have to pay on top privately to get the treatment I need. So no we are not getting freebies. Some people do. We pay way too much taxes for getting nothing for it.
All this boiling frog syndrome, starting to peddle rhetorics about not paying enough tax and then normalising it.
Why is nobody talking about how tax money are misused, wasted and roo easily subject to fraud.
Yes something has to be done and clearly we have one inept government after another. But you cannot expect to have a relatively small section of the population subsidizing everything and everyone and getting nothing in return.

Absolutely this.

Masmavi · 30/07/2025 01:31

No. Eventually it will just put us back in the same position before the NHS came into being - care for the rich.

Cariadm · 30/07/2025 02:11

Screamingabdabz · 28/07/2025 11:32

I would go even further and say the whole NHS needs to be privatised. It’s no longer sustainable in its current state.

OMG!!! Farage would love you!! 🙄
For an absolute multitude of reasons, none of them positive, I cannot believe that you would think this could ever be a good idea and if you took the time to check out the dire and simply terrifying state of 'healthcare' (oxymoron if ever there was one?) in the USA and some other countries then you might just have a rethink! 😦
We have a National Health Service that is envied worldwide, even as it is now and we should fight tooth and nail to keep it going even it it means paying more tax which if you compared that to what we would pay for individual procedures would be very little! 😡

WaryHiker · 30/07/2025 02:25

I haven't read every single post, so I'm sure it has already been mentioned that the Australian system works pretty well. We pay a percentage of our income into the health system called Medicare. That percentage is slightly less if we also pay into a private scheme, but that's not mandatory.

We pay for prescriptions and doctors' appointments, and we get an automatic Medicare rebate depending upon the procedure or appointment. We can then get a further rebate if we have private insurance.

Those on a low income aren't charged. So, healthcare is free at the point of delivery for anyone who can't afford it.

This only applies to non-urgent conditions. You don't need any private health insurance for emergency care or cancer treatment, heart attacks, maternity, etc. That's free for everyone. Some people still prefer to use their insurance and go privately for everything, but that's their choice.

Some states have ambulance insurance too, which doesn't cost very much per annum. Otherwise, you can be charged for an ambulance if it isn't deemed to be urgent. But again, those on low incomes won't be charged.

We have all too much reason to know the ins-and-outs of a large part of the the Australian medical system. Honestly, the care one of our family members has received over the past few years has blown the care they received from the NHS out of the water. That includes mental health care, which was almost non-existent in the UK.

Crackdown96 · 30/07/2025 03:05

Cariadm · 30/07/2025 02:11

OMG!!! Farage would love you!! 🙄
For an absolute multitude of reasons, none of them positive, I cannot believe that you would think this could ever be a good idea and if you took the time to check out the dire and simply terrifying state of 'healthcare' (oxymoron if ever there was one?) in the USA and some other countries then you might just have a rethink! 😦
We have a National Health Service that is envied worldwide, even as it is now and we should fight tooth and nail to keep it going even it it means paying more tax which if you compared that to what we would pay for individual procedures would be very little! 😡

Envied worldwide? Not sure about that. The Polish builders I work with return home when they need treatment as the healthcare is way better than ours.

Crackdown96 · 30/07/2025 03:10

My Lithuanian mate says the healthcare is way better back home too. Just googled it and the study I read rated UK 58% for results/examination turnaround and Lithuania 72%!

Cariadm · 30/07/2025 04:40

Crackdown96 · 30/07/2025 03:05

Envied worldwide? Not sure about that. The Polish builders I work with return home when they need treatment as the healthcare is way better than ours.

That's your answer is it to the valid points I made? I have to say that I find the idea of ' builders' taking the trouble and having the expense of travelling all the way back to Poland for medical 'treatment' simply because it's 'better' extremely unlikely!
If they're Polish 'nationals', other than emergency care and possibly GP visits, many procedures would not be available to them on the NHS so they probably have no choice but to go back home for them and, unless they're paying into the Polish government's 'health insurance fund' they would have to pay for private treatment anyway! 🙄
Taken from the internet FYI:
Public healthcare in Poland is financed through the National Health Fund (in Polish: Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia, or NFZ). All persons employed in Poland, including foreigners, are obligated to pay health insurance fees, which are deducted from their salary. This is usually done by the employer.
Poland's healthcare system is a mix of strengths and weaknesses. While it offers universal healthcare through the National Health Fund (NFZ), it faces challenges in terms of access to specialists, long waiting times, and potential limitations in access to modern medicine, particularly for cancer treatment.

gloriousrhino · 30/07/2025 06:11

*WaryHiker · Today 02:25

I haven't read every single post, so I'm sure it has already been mentioned that the Australian system works pretty well. We pay a percentage of our income into the health system called Medicare.*

I think the healthcare used to be free in Australia and I was there in the 70s when Medicare was brought in. It was extremely controversial and there were howls of protest and an extensive media campaign against it. But they pushed on and it has been a success. Don't know if any colour of government here would have the courage.

mjf981 · 30/07/2025 06:18

There simply has to be a charge and will be in the near future.
There is in the vast majority of other countries, and they get on just fine.
The money saved on time wasters would be massive.
Yes, a few people may put on medical care for something serious which is unfortunate. But people are dying now through huge wait lists, or because they're sat in A and E for 24 hours without being seen...

Oh and one way we can save money:
My Mum was in the UK on holiday after living overseas for 15 years. She broke her ankle and didn't have health insurance. Rocked up at A and E and they did everything - xrays, cast, etc etc for no charge. So if a non resident can get this all done for free, this will be replicated up and down the country thousands of times over. She should have been charged, or billed to an travel health insurance company.

mellongoose · 30/07/2025 06:58

I’ve not read the whole thread but the NHS should be there to treat illnesses and injuries only. There has been massive scope creep in the last 20-30 years and at the same time treatments have got more expensive.

We already pay for the NHS so I would be reluctant to pay for appointments. Missed appointments, yes.

Instead of tinkering around the edges, the NHS needs a massive and wholesale overhaul. I wouldn’t know where to start but it would need to come with a massive change in societal culture, where the norm is personal responsibility and prevention of illness at home with the NHS only being used for things that can’t be managed elsewhere.

Can the UK really do this?!

Trad3rB3n · 30/07/2025 07:01

mellongoose · 30/07/2025 06:58

I’ve not read the whole thread but the NHS should be there to treat illnesses and injuries only. There has been massive scope creep in the last 20-30 years and at the same time treatments have got more expensive.

We already pay for the NHS so I would be reluctant to pay for appointments. Missed appointments, yes.

Instead of tinkering around the edges, the NHS needs a massive and wholesale overhaul. I wouldn’t know where to start but it would need to come with a massive change in societal culture, where the norm is personal responsibility and prevention of illness at home with the NHS only being used for things that can’t be managed elsewhere.

Can the UK really do this?!

So do tell us what would be pushed out due to “scope creep”.

Lucia573 · 30/07/2025 07:04

theresapossuminthekitchen · 28/07/2025 11:41

I wish people would recognise that this type of system works well in other countries and stop burying their head in the sand - we either reform the NHS or it collapses and we end up with a US-style for-profit system that only benefits the rich. Australia have a system similar to what you describe OP, and my experience of it was very positive. They also encourage people to have private healthcare using tax incentives, and often the private system cross-subsidises the public system e.g. a private patient gives birth in the same delivery suite as the non-private patient (and therefore helps contribute to the cost of running it) but is then moved to a private room so gets that ‘perk’ to justify the fees they’ve paid.

Agree. It doesn’t just work, it works better. If our politicians don’t have the courage to change the way the NHS is funded, we’ll end up like the USA, which would be worse. at present, money is being poured into the NHS that could go to education and social care. It’s unaffordable. When it was set up, our population was smaller and life expectancy lower.

Trad3rB3n · 30/07/2025 07:08

gloriousrhino · 30/07/2025 06:11

*WaryHiker · Today 02:25

I haven't read every single post, so I'm sure it has already been mentioned that the Australian system works pretty well. We pay a percentage of our income into the health system called Medicare.*

I think the healthcare used to be free in Australia and I was there in the 70s when Medicare was brought in. It was extremely controversial and there were howls of protest and an extensive media campaign against it. But they pushed on and it has been a success. Don't know if any colour of government here would have the courage.

No it has not been a success. It is crumbling and in a worst state than the UK. It’s pretty much a warning of what we don’t want to happen in the UK.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnv56q82vnro.amp

Trad3rB3n · 30/07/2025 07:13

And we all know how awful the US system is . We are so very lucky to have the NHS and need to fight to save it. Yes it needs modernising but privatisation by the back door is not the answer.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/26/us-health-insurance-system-doctors

Fibrous · 30/07/2025 07:53

Lollylucyclark101 · 29/07/2025 18:32

Looking back over the last 2 years as I’ve had some health problems, that would be £8k in GP costs alone.

533 gp appointments in two years?!

UnTrucDOeuf · 30/07/2025 08:25

Every bloody thing is politicised now to keep us all fighting amongst ourselves whilst the super rich have fun at our expense
weather
health
race
nationality
gender…

Humans are so clever and so thick, no wonder every civilisation fails eventually

XXLfiles · 30/07/2025 09:22

Cariadm · 30/07/2025 04:40

That's your answer is it to the valid points I made? I have to say that I find the idea of ' builders' taking the trouble and having the expense of travelling all the way back to Poland for medical 'treatment' simply because it's 'better' extremely unlikely!
If they're Polish 'nationals', other than emergency care and possibly GP visits, many procedures would not be available to them on the NHS so they probably have no choice but to go back home for them and, unless they're paying into the Polish government's 'health insurance fund' they would have to pay for private treatment anyway! 🙄
Taken from the internet FYI:
Public healthcare in Poland is financed through the National Health Fund (in Polish: Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia, or NFZ). All persons employed in Poland, including foreigners, are obligated to pay health insurance fees, which are deducted from their salary. This is usually done by the employer.
Poland's healthcare system is a mix of strengths and weaknesses. While it offers universal healthcare through the National Health Fund (NFZ), it faces challenges in terms of access to specialists, long waiting times, and potential limitations in access to modern medicine, particularly for cancer treatment.

Residents from EU in UK have always been able to access NHS.
And lits of us did fly back to native countries to get things sorted... Ryanair and private payment can still be cheaper than private healthcare here.

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