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General health

Charging £25 to see a doctor....

84 replies

cantheyseeme · 26/07/2013 21:31

What does everyone think about this stuff in the news today? would you pay?

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AmandinePoulain · 26/07/2013 21:32

Have you got a link? I haven't heard this.

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littlemisswise · 26/07/2013 21:37

I think it is wrong. Some people, like DS2 and me, have chronic illnesses and disabilities so have to see the doctor more often. That is not our fault. I am already at a disadvantage because I cannot work, so have no income, now they are proposing charging me to see the GP. Where would I get the money from?

It would not make the health of the nation any better either and would put more pressure on the already over stretched hospitals. People who can not afford the £25 won't go to the GP with a chest infection, for example, which could exacerbate into pneumonia and a hospital admission. Or they will just bypass the GP and pitch up to A&E.

It's utter, utter madness.

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cantheyseeme · 26/07/2013 21:38

I'm sorry I don't know how to send links you could try googling it, it may have been yesterday mind lol

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GemmaTeller · 26/07/2013 21:40

Yes, I would as I only go when I genuinely have something wrong with me.

I haven't read the full article, just the headlines.

But then what happens to the NHS? do we have to pay for the doctor but get free hospital treatment?

What happens to people who genuinely need to see a doctor and have no money?

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Relaxedandhappyperson · 26/07/2013 21:40

Wouldn't it end up like prescriptions? Pretty much everyone gets them free, except working people. So working people with chronic illnesses would have to pay most - or get a "season ticket" like for prescriptions too.

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chartreuse · 26/07/2013 21:41

I live in Ireland and have to pay €60 to go to a GP. You really only go when absolutely necessary. When dc were younger and getting sick more often medical costs were a serious drain. Even now I have one child with asthma - his medicine is €70 per month and the GP likes to check him every 3-6 months. It adds up.

If I were in the UK, I would thank my lucky stars for free medical care and fight to keep it that way.

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Floralnomad · 26/07/2013 21:42

I think it could be potentially disastrous , there are already people in this country who go to the GP and then don't get their prescriptions filled because of the cost of them . It will just lead to a two tier society for healthcare or more people turning up at A&E with problems that a GP could deal with .( assuming they're not going to charge for that ) .

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Pancakeflipper · 26/07/2013 21:43

Our GP had better sharpen up his act and diagnose right first go and not have us going back every fortnight for 6months.

And I want at least 15mins of their time.
And at £25.00 could I have in-date magazines, not ones from 2004?

It will just mean more people won't go until its really serious and then more intensive treatment (and more expensive) treatment will be required. And people will die because they didn't check out that fishy cough or dodgy vowel movement quicker. Bonkers idea. Charge those who don't turn up.

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fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 26/07/2013 21:44

It's about as wrong as can be IMO, unless means tested

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GherkinsAreAce · 26/07/2013 21:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Pancakeflipper · 26/07/2013 21:44

Not fishy cough - dodgy cough. But fishy coughs should also be checked out.

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cantheyseeme · 26/07/2013 21:45

I think if it meant me seeing my GP when I needed not four weeks after I'd be willing to pay but I probably see it differently as I think I've been to my surgery maybe twice in 3 years. I know people who are there alllll the time and seem to get an appointment at the drop of a hat for nothing at all really, so maybe that would be a deterrant for time wasters and appointment missers.

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SirChenjin · 26/07/2013 21:45

I would hate to see this charge introduced. Equally, I don't think the NHS can be sustained it's funded at the moment and I don't believe there is enough personal responsibility taken when it comes to health and wellbeing.

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buttercrumble · 26/07/2013 21:45

Brilliant idea would cut out all the time wasters

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Pancakeflipper · 26/07/2013 21:47

Oh for gods sake predictive text.... Dodgy bowel movements. Not vowel movements....

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AnnabelleLee · 26/07/2013 21:48

Considering that I've seen some ridiculous reasons to go see a dr on mn, its not the strangest idea ever. I think the worst I saw was someone advising the OOH doctors when a poster had run out of tampons. Seriously, I'm not making that up.

I imagine there would be some kind of medical card system like in Ireland, where unwaged/low-waged/those with chronic illnesses can get a medical card for free access. I don't know if it would work or if its a good idea, but I don't see the problem with discussing it.

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Titsalinabumsquash · 26/07/2013 21:51

As someone who visited my GP every week for a YEAR before DS1 finally got blue lighted to hospital, only to find he had 2 collapsed lungs and un diagnosed Cystic Fibrosis. I think this is a terrible idea, I didn't have any money at all back so paying for healthcare wouldn't have been an option.

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Snazzyenjoyingsummer · 26/07/2013 21:52

Ridiculous and counter-productive. The GPs must not have realised, too, that if I'm going to become a paying customer I will want a considerably higher level of service, including not being spoken to like an idiot, them actually looking at me instead of the computer screen for the whole appointment time, giving me a prescription right away instead of 'seeing how it goes' so I have to make another appointment, and plenty more.

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GemmaTeller · 26/07/2013 21:53

Pancakeflipper I'd pay to get my dodgy bowel movements sorted Grin

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TheYoniWayIsUp · 26/07/2013 22:31

I think it would be worse if means tested. Like everything else, the people who are just over the threshold for benefits but still skint would be the ones too suffer. I'm sick of being part of 'the working poor' in this country.

In truth, if this came in, there would be plenty of times when me, DH and possibly our DC would have to suffer due to simply not having £25 spare. We already skimp on things like dentists/eye tests (for us, not DC) due to lack of funds.

But what do the tories care, eh? The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

The question in the OP should not be "would you pay", as presumably you'd have no choice. The key question here is "could you pay?"

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tribpot · 26/07/2013 22:44

Can I cross-charge back to the GP, like the time he made me and DH come in so that he could announce in person that DH needed a blood test and should book a separate appointment with the nurse (in a week's time) and then a further, separate appointment with him (a week after that). That was it. All he was doing was passing on a message from the hospital.

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purplewithred · 27/07/2013 07:59

Experience in NZ when they did this IIRC was a) appalling overloading of A&E and b) patients waiting until they were extremely sick before seeing a doctor rather than getting stuff sorted early on.

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lljkk · 27/07/2013 08:37

Most countries have co-pay, it's not a significant source of inequity by itself. they could set up a system where people with chronic conditions only pay for the first appointment. Their condition could be tagged as ongoing treatment and not subject to repeat payments.

So broadly I am in favour of some kind of charge, but depends how it's implemented. £25 is what the Vet charges for 10 minutes, btw. ( Brainstorming here a bit). I wonder if folk could be given a budget for primary care appointments, so you get (?) 6 appointments/yr without charge and anything over that you pay for, you'd get a receipt at each appointment telling you how many free treatments you still had that financial year. With fee waivers for follow-up and monitoring appointments for ongoing treatment. Waivers for pregnant, recently delivered a baby and children under 16, age 75+. Concession rates for other groups.

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currentlyconfuseddotcom · 27/07/2013 09:51

Apart from vaccinations, which might have prevented a serious illness/disease, every other single gp trip in my lifetime has either been pointless or actively damaging so I guess I'm one of those people who might have wasted GP time, albeit not frequently.

I don't agree with charging people who have serious conditions, or like lljkk, just for the first appointment. I believe in the welfare state, although it could be better managed. I have a bit more understanding of charging e.g. if people go in with a cold. But there would have to be age restrictions, i.e. not for over 60s.

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