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.

Not against it in principle but implementing it, with the admin, the collection of the money, the means testing of those who don't pay.....not just that it would cost millions to set up, but also with the NHS track record of implementing new systems, it would never get done.

Yep.

The main reason my son spent 308 days in hospital and is now disabled?

Sepsis which progressed to septic shock. It was missed despite low blood pressure and a heart rate of 165.

You are everything what is wrong with healthcare you work for the nhs. You think people are abusing the system, wasting your time, are entitled and you dislike the elderly and blame them for the state of the country. And you seem to think drs can do no wrong

Maybe we should also start charging people £10 if they have to call out the fire brigade? Why should it be free and funded centrally by taxpayers, eh?

After all, if your house is burning down and it's a tenner before they'll turn the hoses on, it's got to be worth prioritising and finding the money somewhere, isn't it.......?

I also agree with pp that said it changes expectations.

I’d want more freedom of which gp you can go to not just the one surgery, like with private drs. I’d be resentful and want a refund if I’d had to pay for the multiple multiple appts I went to my gp prior to my cancer diagnosis where he kept calling me anxious and didn’t refer me, I ended up having to go to a private to progress with that.

So people could simply let their kids go hungry at school every Wednesday to pay for it? And if they need a bus to and from the GP, then that suddenly makes it the equivalent of three bus fares.

At least with the Starbucks cliche, it's only a luxury that people with health conditions can be expected to do without.

Small?!

A regular GP appointment costs me more than $100. I will get about a third of that back as a Medicare rebate, but have to stump up for the full cost upfront then wait a couple of days.

It hasn't led to better access btw - last time I called for an appointment it was a 3 week wait (to discuss tests results re: possible cancer) and their books are closed to new patients moving into the area. Despite the difficulty and cost of getting an appointment, if I don't go at least every 2 years they will throw me off their books and give my 'spot' to a new patient.

I'm not for it it would start as a small fee and quickly end up out of hand leading the most vulnerable without proper care. I'd rather pay more tax.

I do think there should be fines for missed appointments and inappropriate use of A&E. A few years ago someone took their child to A&E because they had dog dirt on their shoe.

Like everything else the fees would be exempt for those who are in receipt of certain benefits, over 60 or under 16 and the vast majority of GP appointment slots are taken up by people with complex health histories who are less likely to be working and be able to pay an appointment fee. Therefore it would be an expensive system to put in place for a low net gain of income.

I have to go to the nurse every 4-8 weeks so it's going to cost me a fortune. I don't think people should have to pay for being ill. Also on the rare occasion when I have seen a GP they are always running late (sometimes up to an hour). I would resent paying for that.
I do agree people who don't show up for appointments should be charged.

I agree. It would be a foot in the door that could balloon to goodness knows how big.

Like some kind of government equivalent of the charities that assure you that they only want £2 a month, but before long, they 'discover' that it's not nearly enough so they constantly badger you to ramp up what you pay them dramatically.

Only when it's your health and government-levied fees involved, it isn't as simple as just saying "No more" and cancelling your direct debit.

I live in a country where people pay for GP appointments - a lot more than £5 - and we're not all dropping dead. Children are free, people with a limited income pay less, but people still see a GP when they need to in most cases. Having free appointments for absolutely everyone seems madness to me.

I can't believe that this still happens and why it hasn't been brought into line with pension age.

People aren't on state pensions at 60.

Great idea , might give people a boot up the back to stop being so unhealthy, ie overeating, unhealthy eating, excessive drinking, smoking. Why should the rest of us pay for their bad decisions. £5 is minimal, in Ireland people pay 12 times that to go to the doctor.

The poster is correct though. A lot of elderly do sit on their money and also waste doctors' precious time going to see them at every opportunity.

The thing is that 20% of patients use 80% of appointments and those 20% tend to fall into a category we would deem exempt from paying eg children, disabled people, older people etc. so it wouldn’t drum up as much income as you think. I think a lot more walk in clinics would be a better idea with nurses etc or a GP you can walk into. Tons of appointments booked in for babies and children to have chests listened to and ears checked - could probably be a nurse checking those. More often than not, it’s viral.

additionally the reason GPs are clogged is because of our ancient referral system. You find a mole on your body that looks funny. Instead of in France or Germany where you lookup a dermatologist and make an appointment direct and they triage you, in the UK you have to make a non-urgent GP APPONTMENT WHICH YOU WAIT AGES FOR, the. They refer you to the hospital to the dermatologist, who the. Gets you in for an initial triage but it’s unlikely any tests or scans will happen that day so another appointment is made and because of waiting list and admin time (the NHS still largely running on a lot of slow admin practices like letters) this process takes months.

in Germany, find mole, call dermatologist, get seen, scans tats done, all in a week or two. No GP required.

100% agree

I think this is a good idea. If we paid it may be valued more.

That is not correct. In Australia we have Medicare (very similar to the NHS) and bulk billing (you do not pay/no out of pocket fee) for services. GPs can however decide to charge an additional cost on top of the bulk billing fee. The difference is we can choose whichever GP we want to go and see, you are not zoned, and you can choose a bulk billing GP. I do not pay to see a GP. I can also always get an appointment.

They already get shit tonnes of our money for not seeing patients. If I was doing an actual in person cash transaction with one of them I'd expect a damn sight more than the "fill in an online form that's available for 25 minutes a week and wait two years for me to refer you to a specialist" level of service that we get from the muppets at the moment.

In Jersey you need to pay to see the GP too. Perhaps pensioners / those on benefits can be excluded but if working people had to pay then that money could directly go to something that people could see tangible improvements - like in a local area, that money could pay for more staff in local A&E dept or whatever really. I’d be happy to pay if I could see my money was being well spent.

100% agree with OP. I believe there is research that shows people value a service more when they are required to pay even a token amount like 50p. I also think, for this reason, all schools should charge a token amount for clubs run by teachers.