You called the idea piss poor in your OP but don't you think if the idea was to go through none of the above would happen and you would be able to see your GP in a few days or less every time you feel as if you're in an emergency situation.

You can't complain over the current state of the NHS and the possible future state if it will instantly change the current state! You should pick a side, otherwise you're just saying "damned if you do, damned if you don't"

That wouldnt work, targeting the hypos only would simply kill these people if they were generally sick.

Better than charging everyone!

Killing 5 people per doctor on purpose is better than charging everyone?

you would not kill 5 people, dont be daft. what i mean by targetting is deal with the hypos in another way but dont charge everyone

its like amputating your head just to deal with a spot

Suggest a way to target these people. So far the top suggestion is charging everybody and you don't like this.

charge them or get them to work there

I don't think creating a charge for say 10% of the population is fairer than creating an non-exclusive charge.

The only way I see around it would be refunding those generally sick the money upon diagnosis. But I still believe the propose unrefunded charge is better than wasting a doctors day work with last-minute cancelled slot, work skivers and the hypochondriacs.

A doctors time is valuable and so is the time of a sick person. The two week wait that some people are claiming in this thread to see a doctor is ridiculous, this charge will immediately cut this waiting time to a few days or less

I think you could charge women as they are always at the docs

blokes never go.

Charge people for missing appointments, I don't have a problem with that. Why should responsible patients who turn up be punished with a charge?

Good morning Trumpet.

Morning x

Its a idea
Not a Policy


And will never be

Considering there were 14 missed appointments in a month at our surgery I doubt that would make much difference...

Plus I would wager that OAPs would be exempt from this IF it were to happen (like everything else) so it wouldnt affect my surgery at all

Even so, charging for NHS when we already pay for it is ****ing ridiculous.

But charging everyone will include charging the 'hypos' anyway..so I dont see how only charging them would kill them? Considering they would have to pay either way.

because that seems to be the way of the world now, and some don't have a problem with it, which is quite scary tbh

I don't have a problem with them charging a nominal fee (not that much) to people for missed appointments that weren't cancelled beforehand or had a genuine reason.

In fact, like the plank I am, I forgot about an appointment a couple of weeks back and when I saw the card in my back pocket I rang up expecting to be fined and when I didn't I was surprised.


But I don't agree with charging just to get an appointment. It will just encourage people to think twice when they really should in my opinion. Kinda contradicts the NHS and their advertisement campaigns about lung cancer and the like. Not many people will go to their GP on a speculative chance their cough was something more if the only thing they will be expecting to cough up will be 25 quid.

Harold Shipman was a visionary.

It actually achieves the opposite of what they believe it will achieve. In the US, healthcare has been a massive issue, and because the poorest people don't have health insurance, they flock to the ER. It's actually costlier to the government for them to be treated this way, than with actual healthcare.

I can phone my docs by about 8.30am and get an appointment for the same day. How on earth do people manage without that service?

Maybe your local surgery is overrun. 2 weeks waiting time sounds a little over the average to me... But service users knowing the exact amount of missed appointments in any given month doesn't sound realistic to me either so what do I know hey?

People that want to both be seen by their doctors quickly anytime they're sick and not to pay for this luxury under any circumstance are asking too much.

Theres a big sign up in reception that changes every month to reflect the numbers :p

Also its hardly 'not paying under any circumstance' tbh, given that the huge majority of us pay NI or stuff like this, so in effect have already paid. Charging again comes across a bit like someone buying their shopping, then being charged if they want to eat it :laugh:

I dont think I have seen a doctor for over 10 years

Last time I saw a doctor I had suspected appendicitus..so got an appointment the same day (then transferred to hospital). Its murder trying to get an appointment with the midwife though. It seems to be the receptionists being twats rather than there being no appointments, as the midwife had to come out to my house a few weeks back because the receptionists kept telling me there was nothing for months. And she didnt understand it at all because she said she had had loads of spare appointments. I have to book direct through her (on her mobile) now..

I don't understand why the receptionist would say theres nothing when there is though. Bizarre :umm2:

Surely if anything it should be a fine for missed appointments, not a fee for all.

I believe my dentist fines if people miss appointments. And if they miss 3, they are basically kicked out of that dentist.

It used to be just the 3 strikes thing, but someone the other day was saying they had to pay £35 for missing one and they couldn;t book another appointment until that was paid.

And it's even more expensive for basic treatment at an A&E - £82. This comes as more than 800,000 patients were forced to go to hospital last year because they failed to get a doctor's appointment. Yet more evidence of back-door Tory privatisation and how their disastrous health and social care reforms are increasing workloads for already strained GP's.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...tients-3523392 More here