BILL FOR THE ILL

Make no apologies for writing again about the ongoing nightmare it is for most of us to see our local GP. Now a top doc – Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPS – has suggested the solution might be to pay to see them.

A perfect storm of COVID-19 backlog, early retirement and not enough new trainees has meant that the NHS GP service is on its knees.

We already pay £23.80 for a check-up with our dentist in England of course, but a third of people are already skipping those appointments because they simply can’t afford it.

While paying for the GP may mean you are more likely to get a face-to-face appointment, surely this is a slippery slope towards a health service which is only accessible for those lucky enough to have a few quid in their pocket. And where does that leave everyone else?