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Original poster

Those who work full-time - would you be happy to pay £20 to see your doctor out of hours?

77 replies

CountessDracula · 04/06/2007 20:08

Read in the paper tonight that there is a proposal to make GP services available in the evenings for a charge of say £20

Personally I would be happy to pay for this to avoid taking time off work, what do you feel?

OP posts:
beckybrastraps · 04/06/2007 21:33

I ask again though. Who would you actually be seeing? GPs don't want to work unsocial hours. They made that plain when the new contracts came in. I think you would be paying for what is effectively a drop in centre.

expatinscotland · 04/06/2007 21:37

Haahaaa.

I work full-time.

Can't afford to pay £20/hour for this.

Why do you assume everyone who works full-time works 9-5?

Why should you be penalised if you do, by being dinged for £20/hour v. someone who works shifts?

Obviously none of the brainiacs who dreamed up this scheme has ever been working poor.

Another reason to stay on the dole, if you ask me.

Doesn't pay to work for an increasing number of people.

motherinferior · 04/06/2007 21:42

I'm really not sure what I think of this proposal. I do believe in a free NHS, but I take other people's points about GPs' working hours too.

Blimey this fence is uncomfortable.

expatinscotland · 04/06/2007 21:44

Why would even GPs want to be restricted to working 9-5, though?

Coming at this from a different angle, I knew plenty of family doctors/GPs who wanted to work non-traditional hours in order to pursue other interests or look after family.

Surely there must be those who want to work non-traditional hours, no?

kickassangel · 04/06/2007 21:54

no-one pays me £20 for parents' eves (i'm a teacher) or any of the hours i work outside of 9-5, so i WOULD object. i pay my tax & have a right to the service. anyone who goes into a service industry (inc teachers & doctors) knows what it entails.

if i add up all the tax i've paid, and all the services i've recieved, i'm owed a lot of money by 'the govt'. i'm actually reasonably happy with this if it supports a society i agree with, and don't resent pensioners, unemployed etc. i would resent paying even more because of limited opening hours at a gps - i'm NOT allowed to take time off to go during the day

Ceolas · 04/06/2007 21:57

But surely, whatever hours your work, if you are ill, your employer can't refuse to let you go to the doctor? [naive emoticon]

I am thinking more of people who consider time of work an unneccassary inconvenience.

ViciousSquirrelSpotter · 04/06/2007 21:58

Yes if it was a GP I actually wanted to see, rather than one the NHS allocates to me.

You have a choice about the plumber you want to see.

ungratefuldaughter · 05/06/2007 09:10

It isn't £20/hour it will £20 for the appointment possibly of five minutes which works out £240/hour for them and they are already getting paid a hell of a lot (don't forget they are already getting paid for each patient and extras for babies, antenatal, family planning, vaccination and older patients)

They get the first and biggest slice of the nhs cake

ledodgy · 05/06/2007 09:14

No I bloody wouldn't pay as far as i'm concerned they get paid well enough for doing the minimum amount compared to other NHS workers.

suedonim · 05/06/2007 10:12

I think this proposal is outrageous. Dr's have benefited hugely from the recent change in contracts, which I believe has given them a 35% pay boost in return for virtually no increase in productivity. If doctors want to work 9-5 they should have become building society managers.

suedonim · 05/06/2007 10:14

And I bet doctors themselves would be outraged if they were charged £20 to see their bank manager, of an evening!

nearlythere · 05/06/2007 10:16

the general idea is good and i would be happy to pay it but there would have to be exceptions- eg those who have a tax credit /nhs exemption certificate (ie people who work but are on a low wage) would have to be exempt.

gillhowe · 05/06/2007 10:32

When I was working I paid for a private GP service so yeah I guess I would be willing to pay... Would be mad as hell if it replaced proper free out of hours emergency GP service though

littleolwinedrinkerme · 05/06/2007 10:44

You cannot compare this suggestion to those services offered by 'vets' or 'plumbers' as they are commercial organisations in it for the profit. The NHS are there to provide a service which many of us pay for via taxes - to suggest we futher enhance the already ludicrous £80k per annum GP's earn is ridiculous. They are having a complete laugh - Dear Mr/Ms GP 'would you like to opt out of after 'normal' surgery hours?' - yes! 'would you also like a huge payrise to compensate for these working hours change?' - yes! ' oh and would you now like to charge the muppets to see them after hours? (you remember, give them the service they used to have a few years ago that we paid you to stop doing?)' - yes! yes! yes! - Jesus am so in the wrong profession

ungratefuldaughter · 05/06/2007 10:46

I think last time I asked for a pm appointment for a follow up for my school age child I was told afternoon appointments are for adults who are working and they were 4-7pm

I am sure if they could screw £20 out of someone they would say there were only paying appointments left in an afternoon/early evening

They are great in claiming for extras (think passport signings they want it in cash !!!) and quite often wouldn't recognise that person by sight and are signing to say they have known that person by sight and quite often may never have even seen that person

evenhope · 05/06/2007 10:58

This is the thin end of the wedge. Sadly because so many people have the attitude of "I'd pay it" the Govt is getting away with more and more charges. It started with road pricing, now it's GPs. My surgery is open from 9-10.30 am Mon to Fri and from 4-5.30pm Mon Tues Wed and Fri only. It is almost impossible to get an appointment and several times I've been fobbed off with a locum who clearly doesn't know what he is talking about. We pay for the NHS through our taxes. Why should we pay twice? We don't even have a walk-in centre here so it's A&E if you can't get an appointment. Most of the time I just don't bother trying to go to the doctor at all.

DontCallMeBaby · 05/06/2007 10:59

I wouldn't pay for an appointment because I was ill (work can give me the time off for that). I would consider paying for other kinds of appointment - for instance, one GP at our surgery specialises in fitting coils, which she does on a Thursday morning. I think I want a coil, and I'm okay with going for a consultation on a Thursday, but getting it fitted isn't so good, as I work on a Thursday and don't really want to take half a day off for it. I'd rather do it at a weekend, and if my £20 bought that, and bought a reasonable length of appointment (not five or ten minutes, and not half an hour plus late) I would probably go for it.

Lolly68 · 05/06/2007 11:06

No I would not pay it. I work full-time i.e. 9.-5.30 why should anybody who works full-time be penalised because they do?

bozza · 05/06/2007 11:09

We have an out of hours centre - it is in the next room to A&E literally. And a good 30 mins car journey away. We have only used it once - when DS was 1 and had an ear and throat infection over the Easter weekend.

My problem is with getting appts vaguely when I want them for me and the DC. Luckily we are quite healthy so it is generally non-urgent things.

kslatts · 05/06/2007 11:27

I wouldn't be prepared to pay and think gp's should offer an out of hours service for people who work.

ungratefuldaughter · 05/06/2007 11:29

don't call me baby - wouldn't the local family planning clinic be better at coils than the gp and they will have an evening clinic somewhere in the area

lou031205 · 05/06/2007 11:48

maybe i am just fortunate, but my gp surgery do their best to fit u in if u need it. I phoned this morning & got triaged for my daughter, phoned at 0800, got a phone call within 10 minutes and an appointment for 0900.

Just to put a bit of balance, GP surgeries are only paid LESS than 20p per patient per day (under £730 per year)

If you genuinely need to see a doctor out of hours for medical need, you will get seen.

The issue here is one of convenience.

lou031205 · 05/06/2007 11:48

Also, there are not enough GPs (takes 9 years to train one) to cover all the hours of the day.

lou031205 · 05/06/2007 11:53

I also think that people forget that they say they pay their taxes, but even one hospital admission costs £400 per day for the bed by the time you factor in all services.

My husband works full time and paid £2500 tax last year. Even if that all went to the NHS, it would only pay for a week of hospital care.

How would we all feel if the hospital turned around and said "sorry, you are really poorly but your taxes only paid for 7 days in hospital, so you will have to take your chances"?

We can't have it all ways.

Novacane · 05/06/2007 12:00

well said lou.

OOH GP's may be paid well but wouldn't you want to be paid well when dealing with unknown patients with no history, prescribing drugs withpossible interactions etc etc

\they do a hard job and deserve to be paid well.

I would pay for my DS to see a doctor if I thought he needed to without thinking about it.

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