�20 charge to see your doctor

[Gromit]

Patients should be charged �20 to see a GP in a bid to limit demands placed on the health service, a centre-right think-tank says.

The NHS is already looking to make savings and the think-tank said there was little appetite for tax rises.
Instead, they said charging for GPs would be a good way to reduce demand.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8156279.stm

A good idea?

[gossipgirl]

you shpuldnt be charged for requesting to see a doctor, however you should if you make an appointment and dont turn up! its shocking how many people dont bother to turn up for appointments

[motionless]

well we pay �45-�70 to visit our gp in ireland and then have to pay for our presciption and our helath service is in tatters so doesn't really matter what they charge you they'll still say it isn't enough!!

[dot.haukes]

how do the GPs in Ireland manage their accounts then? They must have to pay for all sorts of non-medical services , like accountants and bookkeepers to look after the administration side of the parctise, what a waste of resources all round!!

[gossipgirl]

omg i find that really shocking, but in wales we dont have to pay for our prescriptions so were really fortunate there.

[sqad617]

You mean consultation fee following that "idiotic" pay rise that Patricia Hewitt gave to the GP's some time ago?

The consultation fee for GP's should have been brought in a decade and a half ago, to limit the fatuous visits patients made.
Home calls are a total waste of time and the whole Primary Care set up needs revising.

[Kathyan]

I don't think you should be charged to see the doctor, but you should be charged a fee if you don't turn up for your appointment unless you cancel 24 hours in advance.

[marval]

No I don't think you should be charged to see a doctor, but I do think maybe if you just don't turn up. I think it would be a bit unfair to make the people who are really ill pay. I have to see my doctor every now and again for a review, I would hate to have to pay every time. I do realise that we are lucky in England to have the NHS, and I am grateful for the care I have had.

[noway2]

motionless,it's even more expencive to go to the hospital as an in patient in Ireland 100 euro,from jan 1st 09 Then you will be wating up to 12 hours or more to be seen to ..............
.I think it's going up to 125 euro soon.

[anotheoldgit]

Patients should be charged �20 to see a GP in a bid to limit demands placed on the health service, a centre-right think-tank says.

Why is there so many demands on our Health Service?

Couldn't be down to Labour's lax Immigration policy could it?

[paraffin]

No, not a good idea. The indigenous population of the UK should be entitled to what was promised when the NHS came about, i.e. free treatment "from the cradle to the grave."

Why should thousands of bogus asylum seekers be afforded the same rights as the rest of us? This is why the NHS is creaking at the seams because the pot's being emptied by hordes of incoming economic migrants.

Take them away, however, and the pot would runneth over yet again. The present Government has a lot of this responsibility to bear.

[sqad617]

paraffin.....the NHS pot will NEVER "runneth over"...that is the problem, plus people are living longer and medicine, investigations are more sophisticated than the NHS can afford.

In this form the NHS is financially unsustainable and extra finance is needed. Also Government cuts must come and the NHS is one area that will be targeted.

[pinktwink]

yes well not only do we pqy for GPs , perscriptions and all hospital visits in ireland, our dental costs are horrendous

[ELVIS68]

They should just charge the immigrants who are the reason the NHS is skint

[jno]

I was visiting New Zealand earlier this year and came down with bronchitis. To see a doctor I had to pay $45 (about �15). But I saw him within an hour. My GP here sees me for free - but I generally have to make an appointment a week in advance (less if limbs have been severed etc). In both places you have to pay for drugs; the UK ones seemed a bit cheaper.

Is it worth it to get an instant consultation? Actually, I think so; but then I can afford it.

Paraffin, do you have any figures to demonstrate that the NHS would be in the black if it wasn't for bogus asylum seekers?

[ELVIS68]

jno, go into any doctors waiting room and you`ll see the figures for yourself

[pinktwink]

we can generally always get same day appointments to doctors here in ireland

[ReallyLegend]

the wife charged me far more than that


well

for a consultation it was 30 quid


for an internal examination 50 quid

and it was an extra fiver to get her on the couch !!!!!

[Oneeyedvic]

Because Elvis has this amazing ability to just look and listen to somebody and know with a 100% certainty whether they are an asylum seeker, immigrant or illegal immigrant.

Why bother with facts, when we can deal with his perceptions.

[lynbrown]

Paying a fee could be counter productive. I am a bit of a worrier about my health but usually manage to talk myself out if it and things get better in a day or so. If however, I could pay a fee of �20 I would be at the doctor far more often, without feeling guilty of taking up his/her time. I could afford it and would happily pay that for peace of mind.

[daffy654]

What about those people with a long term/incurable illness who can't afford a �20.00 fee each time.Will they just have to stay home and suffer?