It wouldn’t be a bad idea if we paid for GP appointments?

[Babybear260]

I’m no economist or politician but it occurred to be that if everyone (or the majority of the populn excluding students, under 18,s , pensioners and very low income households) paid, I don’t know ~£5 every time they saw a GP, could that improve the NHS?

I know many, many people that spend twice that a week on lattes and cappuccinos (including myself) so I wonder whether if the majority of the population could stump £5 per appointment it would help?? Because most people aren’t seeing GP’s weekly so surely people wouldn’t mind contributing?

sure people have thought of this before and there must be a reason why it wouldn’t work because obviously if if did, it would be an option.

No. It will only put people off seeing their GP. And probably the ones who need an appointment most.

However, I do think that people who don’t turn up for their appointment (assuming no reasonable explanation/justification) should have to pay.)

That is - very roughly - the Australian system, and I think the system in many continental European countries. Everyone makes a small contribution when they go to the GP or use other medical services. Seems obvious to me. But it goes against the absolute article of faith in the U.K. that all healthcare must be completely free for everyone, even those of us who wouldn’t even notice it if we kicked in £10 every time we went to the GP. Especially if that meant we could actually get an appointment.

I think we should pay a nominal fee similar to dental check ups NHS tier 1 and anyone on a low income gets it free on same system

We should charge for no shows, for wasting time in A& E and for failure to attend follow up appointments. We should also stop all health tourism, so no pay, no treatment!

If you aren’t going to charge pensioners what is the point as they make up a large cohort?

The vast majority of people only book a GP when they really need to see one & don’t then miss the appointment because they can’t be bothered.

The ones who don’t are likely to fall into the category of not having to pay so again pointless.

Everyone makes a small contribution when they go to the GP or use other medical services. Seems obvious to me

But our model isn’t like other European countries. I would be happy to move to a system like France but a lot of the public won’t want it.

But all the people you know who buy ‘lattes and cappuccinos’ clearly have the money to buy overpriced unnecessary hot drinks whilst out and about. That is NOT representative of huge swathes of society. Myself included (and I work in the NHS).

99.9% of my patients don’t have the spare cash to buy ‘lattes and cappuccinos’. They don’t have the spare cash to afford the bus fare to come and see me. Let alone pay a fee to do so.

HTH 🙄

I remember being surprised when I moved to Sweden that you have to pay for medical appointments. But everyone takes it for granted and tries not to waste appointments
GP £25
Hospital appointment £35
A&E £40
Other HC (nurse, physio etc) £20
Inpatient - per day - £10

Missing an appointment without giving notice £45

Max you can pay in any year £115 (you get a free card after you reach this sum)

It works well in other European countries. The NHS is broken. We need to look at doing things differently.

You also can’t charge people until you have a better booking system, it’s inefficient & outdated for many.

Not a fan.

Some people regularly need to see GP's and various other medical professionals and it would soon add up for them.

See I wonder about this. Or is the British “mustn’t bother the doctor / waste the doctor’s time” attitude that causes so many people not to see the doctor until well after they should partly because it is free? If they were paying even a contribution, might people feel more entitled to actually go? (Should be free for people on very low incomes who would notice the £5 or £10 charge though).

One person not having the money and putting off seeing a GP and then ending up seriously unwell in A&E a few days later would wipe out any income gathered in their city that week easily.

works well in other European countries. The NHS is broken. We need to look at doing things differently.

Moving to a new system would involve cross party consensus & everyone paying more tax. It should happen but I can’t see it.

Look at the Swedish model. NHS is not fit for purpose.

See, I think this is quite reasonable. Of course people’s ‘reasonable’ completely depends on people’s individual circumstances but I think something like that would reduce the amount of no shows which in turn could help quite a bit.

Would cost more to administer the system than returns gained.

The people who no show are likely to be the people who claim to have no money.

Alternatively we could put an extra 'improve the NHS' tax on those lattes and cappuccinos, as then it would be targeted just at the people who could obviously afford it ?

This! Like all things health care/public services, the high volume users are significantly net takers so would get it for free anyway!

Be careful what you wish for.

In ireland we pay from 60 to 75 depending on the GP per appointment in my family.Then a 100e A & E. Then a capped amount for hospital admission per night.

Unless you have a GP or medical card. I pay 4k a year on top of that for private health insurance and dont even get me started on dentists.

So what about when the dr is wrong and dismissive and you have to keep going back do you still have to pay?
It would start at £5 then april would come round and it would be £7.50 and before you know it your paying £50. If you want to pay for a gp pay for a private one but there are many of us who use the nhs a lot and need it.

Until I got to the bottom part with the free card, I was thinking I'd very quickly be bankrupt in Sweden!

My son was an inpatient for 308 days when he was finally discharged at the start of this year. It began with an A&E visit.

He now has constant hospital appointments, weekly physio etc.

What happens in Sweden if you can't afford the £115 in a year? Do you also have to pay for children?

The people who are put off by a charge would be the ones who really need to be seen. Yabu.

We do need more public education for understanding when to try a pharmacist or self care or dialing 111 rather than asking for an appointment. Often the people on here complaining about how difficult it was to get a GP appointment could have resolved it with a chat to a pharmacist.

Why are prescriptions free for the over 60s? That seems ridiculous