Paying To See Your Doctor?

[gina32]

It seems that some g.p's are in favour of charging a fee, between £5-£25 for an appointment to see them. What do you think?

[emmie]

only if they see me for more than five minutes and actually help with the problem, and they don't pack up at 5-6pm and work weekends.

[sunny-dave]

Completely wrong - it breaches the basic concept of the NHS being 'free at the point of delivery'.

On a practical note, if it is introduced there will be the usual exemptions for children, the elderly and those on benefits - which means that hardly anyone will actually pay it.

It will just be yet another tax on the middle-class, middle-aged, wage earners - who already seem to carry the rest of the country around on their shoulders.

[douglas9401]

Do they intent to charge for the same often woeful system where even the first appointment of the day is late?

[gina32]

And will you get a discount the longer you wait for an appointment, sometimes over a week plus

[Sqad]

I agree with the post of sunny-dave.

Tinkering around the edges of a badly wounded State Health System in need of urgent Intensive Rehabilitation.

[Ratty2E]

We do pay already. In fact after some of the GPs I had the misfortune to encounter I think I want a refund.

[Cloverjo]

Don't they get paid enough already? I do not want to denigrate GPs, most of whom do a very tough job very well. They should be well-paid. But, I was charged £20 by a GP for dictating (and not signing) a letter. How could that have cost £20?
To charge for appointments goes against the principles of the NHS and should not happen.

[mikey4444]

We used to have free eye care and free dental care but this went down the Swannie years ago, so nobody should be surprised that we might have to get our wallets next time we go to see our GP.

[emmie]

so now i have tried twice to get through to the surgery, both times engaged, how so, not to mention finally getting through they have no record of my problem, or that i phoned yesterday to try and get some help

[dollie65]

so if you cant afford the fee to see a doctor you just get your butt to A and E and block the queues up there!!!!!

[emmie]

there is the nub of the problem, its why those in A&E are being swamped.

[factor-fiction]

O agree with sunny-dave. I think some people do abuse the system and may be deterred by a charge but I also think that these will often be the same people who will be exempted from the charge. If exemptions are given to pensioners, children, anyone else who gets free prescriptions and any other groups it will leave vet few people to pay the charge, so they will probably have to pay over the odds to subsidise the others.

I rarely use the doctor but whenever I have been in a chemist collecting items for a prescription I have noticed I seem to be the only person in there who pays for their prescription. In fact the counter staff seem to presume it'll be free and seem thrown when I say i want to pay

[LazyGun]

Not sure quite how widespread that feeling is amongst GPs. It comes from a poll carried out in "Pulse", a trade magazine aimed at Doctors, and is based upon 440 respondents. Not necessarily an accurate reflection of GP feeling.

It is certainly not a view endorsed by the BMA GP committee or the RCGPs.

And as others pointed out, any such system - paid for GP visits - would have a serious effect upon an already stressed A/£ system.

I think it says more about the frustration of some GPs over the number of paitents they see more than anything else.

There was an article I read recently suggesting that the public trust hospitals more than GPs, and, especially amongst the young, would favour attending A and E rather than having to make an appointment to see their GP, regardless of the nature of their ailment, which is pretty sad...

[joeluke]

It would stop surgeries being clogged up by 'season ticket patients' who make appointments every time they get a sniffle/ache

[weecalf]

I have a very thoughtful doctor Went to see him last week .When I open the door he greeted me with ."Good morning weecalf I have not seen you for a while " Here s me "I know doc its just I haven't been well "

[Snafu03]

the waiting rooms are full of anxious mothers and people who've outstayed their welcome.

[boxtops]

We already pay for the NHS through our taxes - if you want to pay to see a GP, go to a private GP. The one up the road from us seems to be doing well.

[Sqad]

LazyGun.....I agree that "Pulse" may not represent the feelings of GP's and 440 interviewed is not representative.
Pulse was always considered a "bit of a rag."
However, that doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't represent a tendency of GP's to a fee per visit service.

\\It is certainly not a view endorsed by the BMA GP committee or the RCGPs. \\

Of course not, these boys do not want to "rock the boat" as they have carved out for themselves a future in Medical Politics away from the "baying crowds" of NHS patients.............so probably their opinion is not representative of the "front line" guys.

I am not surprised that there is a band of opinion which favours A&E over the GP as it may be the quickest way to get your condition assessed by a "specialist" even though he may well be at registrar level.

But yes.... I am against pay per visit for the GP.

[boxtops]

Since A&E is absolutely overloaded at the moment, I'm anti anything which will send more people there. There are plenty of walk-in centres dotted around the place

GPs lost a lot of support when they stopped working weekends and handed cover over to the Out of Hours services - now I see a headline in one of the papers that the GPs are asking for more cash if they reinstate the weekend service.


Charging per visit is a bad idea - OK it might stop the timewasters, but it'll serously affect the ability of those on low incomes who might not be able to afford to go. It'll put GP costs up, because they'll each then have to employ an invoice clerk to administer all the charges. Bad idea.

[ummmm]

Like Dave says....I pick up my OH's repeat script and they do look shocked when I pay.