Patients should pay to visit GP, say top doctors
BMA to vote on radical move to stop people with minor ailments from clogging up surgeries
PATIENTS should be charged for GP and hospital visits, leading doctors say. The British Medical Association will vote next week on whether to lobby the Government to introduce alternative ways to fund the NHS.
The radical move, which would end the principle of an NHS free at the point of delivery, will be discussed at the BMA’S annual conference on Monday. Those backing the proposal say charges are preferable to the “covert rationing” of healthcare, which they say has become endemic.
They said fees to see doctors would discourage people with minor ailments from clogging up GP surgeries.
A number of doctors have previously called for the introduction of a £25 fee to see GPS, but so far the BMA has not endorsed the policy. Earlier this year, polling of GPS found eight in 10 were in favour of charges for some services.
Mike Forster, lay secretary for Gloucestershire Local Medical Committee (LMC), said the aim of the motion was to reduce pressure on the NHS by encouraging patients to take more responsibility.
“There is an enormous amount of demand in general practice,” he said. “We are just putting a shot across the bow, saying is this something to be considered for ameliorating the deluge of patients going through general practice doors who might possibly think twice about doing it.” Mr Forster said too many patients were visiting GPS when they would have recovered after a few days’ rest, or could have seen a pharmacist, and small fees might be enough to make patients think twice.
“Think about plastic bags,” he said. “A 5p charge on them has vastly reduced the number of plastic bags people use. It might be that a couple of pounds – £5 maximum – would make people think, ‘Should I spend that on the GP or should I nip down to the pharmacy, where you can get the medication anyway.’”
Dr Dean Eggitt, chief executive of Doncaster LMC, also backed the idea of co-payments, saying the NHS should fund a more limited range of treatment. The GP said the announcement by Theresa May of an extra £20billion a year by 2024 was not enough, adding it was like expecting Harrods to work on an “Aldi” budget.
“In reality, we either need to increase taxes dramatically, adopt a copayment model – in effect, cutting NHS services without a top-up payment – or cut the quality and breadth of NHS services for all,” he said.
The motion, proposed by Gloucestershire LMC, calls on the BMA to encourage the Government “to consider alternative means of funding the NHS”, and says that “co-payments from patients should be considered”.
However, Prof Helen Stokes-lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPS, said: “Charging patients for GP appointments would go against one of the founding principles of the NHS. It risks deterring patients from seeking medical help in the early stages of illness, when they can be dealt with cost-effectively and efficiently in primary care.”