autumn Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 So Gps are to vote on charging for appointments . So many people are just not turning up for appointments, wasting Drs time and causing long waiting times . It always annoys me when I see the list up of missed appointments especially as I always struggle to get an appointment when needed .I think it would be fairer to charge for missed appointments as they do for other services eg.Dentist ,chiropodist ,physio. No further appointment could be made until all missed fees are paid . What does everyone else think ,any other suggestions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicken Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 they should only charge non EU to see a GP and i agree only to charge for missed appointments for the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent Orange Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Charges would probably just encourage people to go to minor injuries or the walk in centre (provided they don't also decide to charge), or just avoid seeing their GP in the first place. I agree with charging people for missed appointments. However, I feel the whole GP system needs changing dramatically to cope with the demands. It's almost impossible to obtain an appointment with my GP these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutch Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 When something urgent happens they just call at home and ask some questions about what happened and tell you what to do next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister M Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 I appreciate that it must be very frustrating for doctors that some patients not to show up to their appointments, I genuinely worry that this is the thin end of the wedge - in terms of people starting to pay for services. I firmly believe in the priciples of an NHS free at the point of need, and charging will cause hardship. One idea floated is a deposit which you get back if you don't turn up - or if people are repeat offenders then perhaps they are the ones that should leave a deposit??? The NHS is comparatively efficient. I used to work on the front line in the NHS, and I did many hours unpaid. I did so because it is a public service...if it goes down the route of turning into a money making scam then the good will of staff will go. I'm not being facetious, but I'm sure that there are many patients whose time is also valuable, who have been kept waiting to see a GP way after their appointment time. Can the patient bill the doctor in those circumstances? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivanava Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 So Gps are to vote on charging for appointments . So many people are just not turning up for appointments, wasting Drs time and causing long waiting times . It always annoys me when I see the list up of missed appointments especially as I always struggle to get an appointment when needed .I think it would be fairer to charge for missed appointments as they do for other services eg.Dentist ,chiropodist ,physio. No further appointment could be made until all missed fees are paid . What does everyone else think ,any other suggestions The problem being that the people probably most likely to miss an appointment will be the people that won't be expected to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlfc Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 They should try what the airlines do perhaps and book more people in than they have slots for based on statistical analysis of the % that don't turn up. Then if they need to "bump" the patient, to use the airlines' phrase, onto another day or session because too many have turned up then the GP could pay the patient rather than the patient cough up for the appointment in the first place. There's probably a few good reasons why this wouldn't work but I can't think of any right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister M Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 The problem being that the people probably most likely to miss an appointment will be the people that won't be expected to pay. I don't know if there is a correlation between a person's income and their propensity to turn up to appointments, but I can certainly imagine that for people with chronic health conditions who may have the misfortune to rely on disability benefits, then may be they would be more likely to be too poorly to visit a GP on the day of their appointment. And yes there is a telephone - but I know from experience sometimes how hard it is to get through to the docs when loads of people are ringing the surgery. ---------- Post added 07-05-2014 at 17:17 ---------- It's also worth considering how much this system will cost to enforce. It could end up costing more to run that it collects in revenue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMR67 Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Why should I pay Tax and NI and still have to pay to see a doctor. It's bad enough I have to pay £8 odd for prescriptions. I recently took a prescription to the chemist and out of the 8 people that came in after me no one else paid. That means 1 out of 9 paid which equates to 11% of people paying for medicines, no wonder the NHS is in a state. Rant over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister M Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Why should I pay Tax and NI and still have to pay to see a doctor. It's bad enough I have to pay £8 odd for prescriptions. I recently took a prescription to the chemist and out of the 8 people that came in after me no one else paid. That means 1 out of 9 paid which equates to 11% of people paying for medicines, no wonder the NHS is in a state. Rant over. I agree with you. The report I read though is that this has already been considered by the BMA & flatly rejected. The probability is that it will be rejected again. Een then, it could not be enforced without Parliament's say so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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