Would you pay to see your GP ?

[Dead-Eyed Duck]

I went to A&E some weeks ago with my mother-in-law - 6 hours we waited.

 

I came to the conclusion that anyone who ends up in A&E because they are intoxicated should have to pay a charge of at least £1,000. This would rapidly sort out some of the 'time wasters', and reduce waiting times. The abuse that some gave to nurses was appalling, and they would have tried the patience of a saint.

[deadeye18]

Those of us that work already pay to see a gp.Would I pay extra...NO!NHS GP's and bank staff nurses are what's wrong with the organisation.Where my missis works all the gp's only work a few days nhs and the rest of the week private.Bank staff nurses generally sat on their backsides choosing what they will and won't do when they're on a shift while the few full time regular nurses are running round like mad chickens doing most of the work.

[ph5172]

I don't understand that; do you mean you can mAke appointments in advance? At our surgery non urgent appointments have to booked on that day; we can't for example ring up on Friday and make one for the following Monday to suit work patterns etc.

Back on topic I'm all for fining those who don't turn up or who find themselves in A&E on a weekend after binging on the booze, but that again is another can of worms as chronic alcoholics will obviously be in no position to pay and more than likely have enough to deal with.

Yes.

 

You can make what they deem as a routine appointment in advance - i actually think its 4 weeks thinking about it, they release a certain number of appointments that day for times 4 weeks advance of the day (if that makes sense) with a selection of doctors, you can book online or by phone. These are for the usual i have had a cough that hasnt gone, i have a poorly toe nail, i feel generally unwell and the like

 

An 'emergency' appointment can be booked on the day (or the following day) by calling between 0800-0900 and 1300-1400 and registering for a call back from triage, who will book you in, direct you to another provider or (as has happened to me) issue a prescription over the phone

Edited May 14, 2017 by ph5172

[wandringstar]

I assume you would extend this to motorists and motorcyclists - plenty of serious injuries with either. Perhaps a levy on those who live in a deprived area - they might be more likely to be mugged and injured. We could include joggers, gym fanatics and those who go for a night out. Then again - most accidents happen at home - perhaps yet another policy required.

 

There is enough money in the NHS for those who pay into the system and have a genuine right to treatment. A massive problem is the drain caused by those who should not be in hospital or even the country.

 

 

no just cover stuff that isn't essential to your livelihood, no need to be silly over it, a lot of golfers have a policy, see what I am saying, not people that want to go on a coastal walk, some sort of comprehensive medical policy, that takes the heat off the state, just trying to be sincere and offer a helpful solution, 50 years ago it wasn't law to have a car policy I believe.

[CharlieT]

no just cover stuff that isn't essential to your livelihood, no need to be silly over it, a lot of golfers have a policy, see what I am saying, not people that want to go on a coastal walk, some sort of comprehensive medical policy, that takes the heat off the state, just trying to be sincere and offer a helpful solution, 50 years ago it wasn't law to have a car policy I believe.

 

Your belief is incorrect, 55 years ago, at the age of 17, I was obliged to pay the astronomical sum of £6 and half a crown.

[jam1e]

I'd happily pay £5 or £10 for a 10 minute consultation. But that's probably because every time i call for an appointment i get told they can only book appointments 28 days in advance, and due to that they're fully booked..... A friend's wife works at the surgery, and has said privately that the 'influx of immigrants has put a big strain on the surgery, in the particular in our area'..... That's her views, not necessarily mine as i don't know the facts....

I get get receptionists ask why i need to see a doctor. Like they're qualified to prioritise appointment!!

This country has reaped what it has sown. It's that simple....

[Vince Green]

The road traffic act 1930 made car insurance a legal requirement, interestingly it also required drivers to have £25 of medical cover.

 

Years ago I was involved in a road accident and was taken to hospital. My parents got a bill for the ambulance.

[jam1e]

I would pay £5, on the condition doctors and the BMA get behind moves to check patient eligibility for free healthcare rather than bleating 'it's not my job'.

Plus 1!

[Scully]

Yes.

 

You can make what they deem as a routine appointment in advance - i actually think its 4 weeks thinking about it, they release a certain number of appointments that day for times 4 weeks advance of the day (if that makes sense) with a selection of doctors, you can book online or by phone. These are for the usual i have had a cough that hasnt gone, i have a poorly toe nail, i feel generally unwell and the like

 

An 'emergency' appointment can be booked on the day (or the following day) by calling between 0800-0900 and 1300-1400 and registering for a call back from triage, who will book you in, direct you to another provider or (as has happened to me) issue a prescription over the phone

 

Thanks for that. I was told by a receptionist I know that the reason we can't make an appointment in advance is to massage government statistics. For example, if you ring up at 0830 and are seen that day then it counts towards 'being able to see your GP on the day you phoned'; booking in advance avoids that statistic. How true it is I have no idea, but it's a good example of 'moving goal posts' if true.

[Vince Green]

A friend's wife works at the surgery, and has said privately that the 'influx of immigrants has put a big strain on the surgery, in the particular in our area'.....

We have to realise that people who come from places where medical services are unaffordable view our free healthcare differently to the way we do. They see it as bottomless, as much as you want when ever you want, its all to do with perception

Edited May 14, 2017 by Vince Green

[wandringstar]

A small charge for all is a way of raising further income to support those who pay nothing.

 

 

 

The point with shooting insurance is to protect your interests if you shoot someone, not yourself.

 

to pay their medical bills if you shot someone, after the nhs has treated them as they would be invoiced by the nhs, that's my theory anyway.

[Gordon R]

Ah, I see - a parachutist would not be insuring themself, but would be insuring anyone he / she hit on landing. A well thought out idea.

[jam1e]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought paid mine during my entire working life. Are they really suggesting that I should pay twice or will I get a rebate on the payments I have already made.

Your paying for the influx of foreign immigrants, and a small elderly population living longer.

When i'm lucky enough to get to see any doctor! Let alone my own! It's always packed! And at least half speak broken English, and look/sound Eastern European. Now i don't intend to get involved in what were, or were not Eastern European. I'm no mathematician but they make up around 50% of patients, yet make up far less in local population..... Just to point something out. I know several parents of my son, who work their ***** off in this country, and put their wages back into our 'system'.

Yet i also see LOADS of Eastern Europeans working in the fields in our local villages. And come the end of the week, the locals avoid the post office, as a long queue forms with the local field workers send most of their wages back home. Yes they may be doing the jobs some of the people don't want to do, but most of their wages go back to their families abroad. Do i blame them. Hell no! But it doesn't do our economy as good as it could....

Just my opinion....

[wandringstar]

it would be a comprehensive policy Gordon, your medical bill, their medical bill, and any compensation, its just the bones of an idea, you would leave it to the IQ department and the bean counters to work out the finer detail.

 

people like ten pin bowlers wouldn't be affected as its not risky enough, and is a pleasure for all, not just fanatics and extreme sports people.

[Vince Green]

I wonder how good shooting insurance really is. There was a thread running for a long time on a work related forum about business insurance and the experiences of tradesmen who had tried to make claims for accidental damage. It wasn't good reading at all, in the end people were saying OK so has anyone ever had a successful claim?

 

This is one aspect of the medical insurance route that isn't taken into account either, the exclusions

Edited May 14, 2017 by Vince Green

[wandringstar]

we pay to go to the dentist, so maybe the doctors is the next logical step.

[mel b3]

Edit : that and outlawing first cousin marriage to try and stem the tide of children being born with preventable genetic defects, often fatal or requiring life long intensive health care.


Bang on ,

Flynny

 

i remember watching a documentary about this a few years ago , it was people from asian families that married their cousins to keep the family money together , the end result is severely disabled children , at the time , the documentary claimed that each of these disabled children was costing the state £250,000 per year , apparently , this isnt a problem in their country of origin(yes i know many are uk born)as these disabled children just die from lack of medical care. quite shocking on many levels really , and a problem that will never be addressed .

 

im of the very firm opinion , that free medical treatment , shouldnt be offered until the patient has been , living and working and paying tax in the uk for some considerable time.

 

i also think that unemployed people should move to one side in the queue to allow working people to get treatment first , that doesnt mean that an unemployed person that is having a heart attack should wait while i get the boil on my bum lanced , it means that they are more able to attend at different times , without causing too much disruption to their life.

 

the nhs is great , but its being raped daily .

[Gordon R]

its just the bones of an idea

 

 

 

I think you over sold it.

[CharlieT]

we pay to go to the dentist, so maybe the doctors is the next logical step.

 

And how would your "next logical step" benefit society, a society that, irrespective of income or wealth, is afforded the basic human right of medical care as and when they need it.

 

When I was born, pre NHS, my mother was fortunate because my father could afford to pay for her to go into a nursing home to give birth to me. Equally, as and when we were sick, we were able to afford to go to the doctor or hospital. Not everyone in our village was as fortunate, many could not afford such luxuries and suffered ill health or died as a result.

 

One of the greatest things, if not the greatest, this country has created is the NHS and social care. To contemplate dismantling it and going back to pre NHS days is unthinkable.

 

Below is an extract from an article written a couple of years ago by a 94 year old gentleman named Harry Smith. Poignant thoughts when discussing doing away with free at the point of delivery.....................

 

It was in the palm of that ravaged city that I voted in Britain’s first general election since the war began. As I stood to cast my ballot in the heat of that summer, I joked with my mates, smoked Player’s cigarettes and stopped to look out towards a shattered German skyline. I realised then that this election was momentous because it meant that a common person, like me, had a chance of changing his future.

So it seemed only natural and right that I voted for a political party that saw health care, housing and education as basic human rights for all of its citizens and not just the well-to-do. When I marked my X on the ballot paper, I voted for all those who had died, like my sister, in the workhouse; for men like my father who had been broken beyond repair by the Great Depression; and for women like my mum who had been tortured by grief over a child lost through unjust poverty. And I voted for myself and my right to a fair and decent life.

I voted for Labour and the creation of the welfare state and the NHS, free for all its users. And now, nearly 70 years later, I fear for the future of my grandchildren’s generation, because Britain’s social welfare state is being dismantled brick by brick.

[wandringstar]

does anybody on here have a problem with paying for the dentist?, there are many, many exemptions to paying by the way.

 

There was outrage when that came in, as I said in an earlier post I am against paying to see a gp, but you dident read that.

Edited May 14, 2017 by wandringstar

[Jaymo]

we pay to go to the dentist, so maybe the doctors is the next logical step.

An extremely valid point, I for one would not/ do not object to paying to see a Doctor.

 

Am fortunate enough to have Private Medical provided but I still have to see a doc for the referral

[Winston72]

 

And how would your "next logical step" benefit society, a society that, irrespective of income or wealth, is afforded the basic human right of medical care as and when they need it.

 

When I was born, pre NHS, my mother was fortunate because my father could afford to pay for her to go into a nursing home to give birth to me. Equally, as and when we were sick, we were able to afford to go to the doctor or hospital. Not everyone in our village was as fortunate, many could not afford such luxuries and suffered ill health or died as a result.

 

One of the greatest things, if not the greatest, this country has created is the NHS and social care. To contemplate dismantling it and going back to pre NHS days is unthinkable.

 

Below is an extract from an article written a couple of years ago by a 94 year old gentleman named Harry Smith. Poignant thoughts when discussing doing away with free at the point of delivery.....................

 

It was in the palm of that ravaged city that I voted in Britain’s first general election since the war began. As I stood to cast my ballot in the heat of that summer, I joked with my mates, smoked Player’s cigarettes and stopped to look out towards a shattered German skyline. I realised then that this election was momentous because it meant that a common person, like me, had a chance of changing his future.

So it seemed only natural and right that I voted for a political party that saw health care, housing and education as basic human rights for all of its citizens and not just the well-to-do. When I marked my X on the ballot paper, I voted for all those who had died, like my sister, in the workhouse; for men like my father who had been broken beyond repair by the Great Depression; and for women like my mum who had been tortured by grief over a child lost through unjust poverty. And I voted for myself and my right to a fair and decent life.

I voted for Labour and the creation of the welfare state and the NHS, free for all its users. And now, nearly 70 years later, I fear for the future of my grandchildren’s generation, because Britain’s social welfare state is being dismantled brick by brick.

We see things differently, if we all had to pay a fiver to go, I agree a lot of people would stop going, probably the older end through stubbornness, the benefit brigade would no doubt be exempt just as they are with dentistry,but it seems to work, times change and we have to move with them, end of the day NHS needs to save money and needs more cash to meet the demands of people living longer, whats the alternative ? more tax/National insurance? Euthanasia? as it stands its not working and whining about yesteryear wont fix it

[wandringstar]

your mobile phone contract mentions a policy of 'fair usage', maybe the nhs has been unfairly used.

[Winston72]

your mobile phone contract mentions a policy of 'fair usage', maybe the nhs has been unfairly used.

Fairly obvious really , missed appointments, NHS breast augmentation, tattoo removal, circumcision clinics for religious beliefs,AIDS treatment for anyone who lands here off the banana boat the list is endless

[ordnance]

I think it is a very good idea, in Ireland you have to pay a small amount and the system works very well. Our system is clearly overloaded so something has to change, its not going to fix itself

Its not that straight forward, it can put people off going to the doctor that need to see a doctor.

 

GP charges in Ireland deter patients.

 

 

“The effect was most pronounced amongst younger adults, over 40% of whom had a medical problem but did not see the GP because of cost,” says the report.