We need to start charging for NHS services

[Fragmentedbrain]

£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

If you end up in A&E as a result of too much alcohol (injury or needing stomach pumped) you should have to pay the cost of your treatment - or £100 or whatever. Same goes for drug related injuries.

And those who get injured when playing sports, and who are in car/motorbike crashes, and smokers, and people who cross the roads in places without crossings or lights, and people who fall off chairs at work, and people who get bitten by dogs or cats... I could go on

But if you can’t get to see a GP where are you supposed to go? I had BP over 195 systolic GP told me to go to A&E. A&E wouldn’t prescribe told me to see my GP.

Plus people who smoke & drinknalcohol pay more tax on the product. Obese people, though…,

It's a shame we can't go back to how GPs operated in the 70s/80s - there was no 'out of hours' service because GPs were on duty all the time! My father was a GP and often got called out in the middle of the night - it went with the job, which by the way, wasn't very highly paid in those days so people were getting a lot for their money!

I worry about this happening. My ds4 has had over 20 operations with more to come, we can't afford to pay for that.

I think we need to get mental health services sorted and sort out the misuse of emergency services/a and e. That would save a fortune. Also if there was some kind of service for picking up uninjured elderly people up off the floor that was cheaper than an ambulance.

Yet when obese people lose weight they’re still demonised for not doing it the “right” way. I pay £150 a month for my private weight loss medication.

I don’t think general appointments should be charged. But I think time wasters should be charged. I.e if you don’t attend an appointment, you should be charged. If you rock up to A&E with a sore throat, you should be charged.
if you call an ambulance for something that is not an emergency, you should be charged.

Completely agree OP but as per no one wants to pay a minimal amount so here we are, a very very basic service, when it could be significantly better for all but no no 🙄

It would still cost more than it gained.

So many comments against it, but I bet they all have £5 for a coffee, or for snacks on their shopping, or £40 for their nails or phone each month!

Which is why i just mentioned contraception prescriptions specifically, not all prescriptions.

If you take an average of £3.50 per prescription it would bring in nearly £4 billion annually. You think it would cost £4 billion?

I've a rare autoimmune disease which poses a serious risk to my health. I've been unwell the last week which has required 3 GP appointments. To propose I pay £45 to ensure I don't become seriously ill/die seems unreasonable.

To actually get to diagnosis required many appointments, many bloods, various hospital visits. If I had to pay I'd not have never got a diagnosis, I'd just be ill until I was dead. I couldn't work before medication and was off sick for ages. I'd have not been able to pay to get diagnosed and would have lost my job because I got diagnosed.

Making people pay doesn't mean sick people are better cared for.

I had a friend in America who was ill, was off sick because of it. Run out of money. Was evicted in a week and ended their life by suicide. Charging isn't better. The suggestion smacks of ableism to me.

£45 seems like a good deal to me.

Nobody has proposed an America-style system.

No, I would not support any charges - Nye Bevan rocks!

Oh yes, damn those fat people eh 🙄 you really think the amount of tax someone pays buying cigarettes would cover their cancer treatment and care?

You think it's reasonable to pay for multiple appointments just to get to the bottom of what's going on?

It’s a service you’re using, at the end of the day. I had multiple GP appointments to get to the bottom of my chronic illness, and I’d have paid (in fact I did, more than once, for a private GP appointment!)

How privileged you are that was an option for you.

I agree with a charge for seeing the GP but the NHS is religion to most Britons so they won’t go for it.

A lot of other countries manage universal healthcare often with a superior service but not the NHS model.

My DH works in a large community health care centre and the number of wasted appointments is incredible he talks of things like

Lots of missed appointments when the sun's oit

Lots of missed appointments when its raining

People not taking any responsibility to see their treatment through to full course then coming back when they're still sick weeks later

Add to that the people who would like an appointment but can't get one so on desperation head to A&E

It's clear something needs to change.

Am I supposed to apologise for being treated so badly I had to go private to get antibiotics, because if I hadn’t, I could’ve ended up with sepsis? I’d rather pay £15 a pop to ensure that doesn’t happen again.

I would love to have a french style medical system here. I worked there for five years and the care was exceptional.

the NHS is broken. It’s not going to get any better, it needs a full overhaul. I’m finding myself in the shitty situation where I have to pay extortionate amounts for private care as the waiting lists are nuts, and private health care is not affordable as I already have a chequered medical history. Fundamentally I’m in great shape but the wear and tear of middle age is costing me a fortune and the nhs is rubbish at this kind of stuff. If you’re not dying, just in lots of pain, you’re screwed.

There will be all sorts of reasons for that including forgetting making the appointment and (worse) the NHS doing it all by app and not also notifying named next of kin. I’m discovering all this as the daughter of 90 year olds.

Exactly!!

How many times does the average person visit the doctor, twice a year at the most? say £15 for a visit and that’s it. You’d think the suggestion was £150 a visit.

For the most vulnerable, the elderly, children, those that have medical needs and need frequent visits it could be done so they get help etc…

It’s like cutting of your nose to spite your face. You can have 2 systems -

A- You pay £15 for a GP visit and can get an appointment on the day and there won’t be any charges for anything else.

B- It’s free but it’s highly unlikely you’ll get an appointment within 5 days….

”£15? Absolutely not, I won’t bother…” then folk complain how hard it is to see their GP but still flat out refuse pay a small amount. 🤯🤯

Meanwhile at the coffee shop “Hi there, can I have a grande mocha-choca-late”