... but where is the wealth line drawn?

IT is reported in The Herald that Grampian Local Medical Committee have suggested that wealthier patients should be charged a fixed fee for GP consultations in a bid to reduce demand (“Medics call for wealthy to be charged fixed GP fees”, December 1).

This raises many issues. Firstly, who then decides what constitutes wealthy, and how is wealth defined?

As with all means-tested benefits there has to be a line drawn which separates those who qualify and those who do not.

Someone earning £1 per month below that line may qualify for free treatment whilst someone earning £1 per month over find they have to pay. That system in itself is patently unfair.

I find the idea of “reducing demand” by pricing people out of the system abhorrent. Everyone who needs medical assistance should be able to avail themselves of it. If we accept the notion that the “wealthy” should pay, and indeed can pay, then logically that will not in fact reduce demand.

Demand will remain static but some will pay for treatment and some will not.

I am a great believer in the concept of the NHS system, that medical treatment should be free at the point of delivery and funded through fair taxation. If we all need to pay more tax then so be it. That is how it should be.

The wealthy would pay more tax whilst lower earners would pay less or none at all.

Payment of a fee for a GP appointment would be the first step on a slippery slope that would inevitably lead to charges for other medical services and potentially the complete demise of the NHS as we know it.

David Clark,

Tarbolton, Ayrshire.