£25 to see the Doctor?

Carl31

Just watching Matthew Wright on Channel 5, who is discussing a story where a £25 charge has been suggested to see a GP in order to cut down on time wasters and the strain they place on the NHS

I am all for charging for appointments for those exact reasons, it might also make people look after themselves more, however i feel £25 is too much. Is this a fair amount to be charged?

I think it should be more like the current prescription charge, with no further charge for medication

[Deleted User]

It's a stupid, stupid idea.

It will hammer A&E - people would rather go there (where it would be free) rather than pay £25

It would annoy me quite a bit too - it's very rare I go to a GP without knowing what I need (which is usually various allergy or asthma medicines). I'd rather see better ways to allow people to self medicate - maybe some way of getting more medicines over the counter.

ILW

Charging £25.00 at A & E could be useful.

PasturesNew

I thought it was £25 for failing to turn up.

michaels

Only thing is it would still be free no doubt to a large number of people, probably those for whom making an appointment does not involve the expense/hassle of taking time off work. Ie not a good policy for 'hard-working families'.

Perhaps a nudge policy could be implemented instead - if you have a 100% turn up on time record with the GP then you get to be seen at your alloted time. If you have a patchy record you have to wait until a doctor is available?

chewmylegoff

I think a Tenner would be appropriate.

Also, people who turn up to a&e with drunken injuries should be charged £1,000.

wotsthat

Is there any data to show the demographic of the people that fail to cancel appointments?

My prejudiced guess would be that they wouldn't have to pay anyway due to being in receipt of one benefit or another.

Maybe those on benefits should pay in Facebook credits and everyone else pays a tenner?

SingleSue

It would put me off going to the doctor and I would not be the only one. That would be dangerous in my opinion as those already reticent about seeing the doctor would become more so on a purely budgeting angle.

I'm not one to run to my doctor at the slightest thing either, I rarely see him even though I probably should go more often but to introduce charging would have me sitting there thinking if I can afford it, should I buy food/pay a bill etc or see the doctor...the food for my family and bills would win each time.

Carl31

PasturesNew wrote: »

I thought it was £25 for failing to turn up.

Thought I better check in case i caught the back end of the discussion, but found this article

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/25-to-see-your-gp-majority-of-doctors-want-to-charge-patients-for-routine-appointments-8732498.html

Old_Slaphead

I also think charging for prescriptions (with prices lowered to £5 and a corresponding drop in season ticket prices) should be more widespread ie everyone under 70.

Rather than charging for GP appointments - I think a £10 charge should be applied to all those no cancelling unwanted appointments

moonquack78

Apparently a majority of GPs support this because they are fed up with people wasting their time. I only caught a glimpse of it this morning so I am not sure if they are charging people for not showing up to appointments or charging everyone for making an appointment, but if it is the latter they should just consider charging people who don't show up and people who go to the doctors for pointless reasons they can do nothing about, like having hayfever or a cold. I have a friend who used to work in a GP surgery and he said a lot of elderly people would make appointments when there was nothing wrong with them, just so they could have some human contact. Not sure how prevalent that is. Something needs to be done though. I have certainly noticed in the last few years it has become very difficult to get an appointment. Used to be able to phone and get one the same day, now I am told "we have a slot available in September, is that good for you?"