£10 NHS charge?

NHS news overload is getting to me. It’s not a religion but it’s like one.

I read in The Scotsman this week that there are close to 800,000 missed appointments per year. It was a socialist who dreamt up the idea of a “free” health service and, as you’d expect, it’s only free to those who don’t work; the rest of us pick up the tab.

Some suggest fining those who fail to turn up, but that’s unlikely to work. It would probably cost more than the fine to collect. But as usual, the answer actually is in the pocket, but the SNP is implacably against anything that would lose its socialist vote.

It’s an easy and simple solution: if an appointment is missed, a letter is sent telling the culprit that the next time there’s a need to visit the NHS they’ll have to pay £10. In a very short time attitudes would change.

There are too many carrots and not enough sticks. Palmerston Place

Edinburgh