[Misc] Would you pay for a doctors appointment?

[Deleted member 2719]

Would you pay for a doctors appointment? And how much?

I can not believe 17 million appointments are missed each year.

What a waste of time and money and it's people like Susanna Reid doing it, is it just Palarse wa**ers

Yes I said 17 million missed each year wtf.

 

[Starry]

Yes I would. We have moved overseas now and to see our GP it is $130, just about £75gbp. But we don't pay any tax/NI towards health care.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Would you pay for a doctors appointment? And how much?

I can not believe 17 million appointments are missed each year.

What a waste of time and money and it's people like Susanna Reid doing it, is it just Palarse wa**ers

Yes I said 17 million missed each year wtf.

Yes.

Happy to pay a deposit for each appointment with the surgery keeping it if I don’t turn up or if I’m late.

 

[knocky1]

Maybe they were sick.

 

[Louis MacNeice]

No. If you introduce such a charge then those who can't afford to pay it will self limit their access to health care; these may well be the people who need it most. Universal free access to health care is one of this country's greatest achievements and should be defended and extended not undermined.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

This.. from Hugo Rune :

"Happy to pay a deposit for each appointment with the surgery keeping it if I don’t turn up or if I’m late."

NB. It would work both ways of course with them paying me a credit if the doctor is more than a few minutes late

 

[Stat Brother]

We won't have a choice soon.

 

[Louis MacNeice]

We won't have a choice soon.

Sadly you may well be right.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Errrr ….. no. The whole point of the NHS is "free at the point of delivery". The problem is that doctors surgeries are actually private businesses and so if they can't make a profit they close. I'd be happy for missed appointments to have a charge on the following conditions :

1. GPs become a part of the NHS ( not private contractors )
2. They actually run on time ( so as someone else has suggested, I get cash back if my appointment is delayed )
3. They dump this ridiculous "You have to phone at 8.30 in the morning to get an appointment for that day. No pre-arranged appointments" crap. If I want to book an appointment for 5 days time I bloody well should be able to.

EDIT - and if they charged A&E would become even more of a nightmare !!!!!

 

[darkwolf666]

This.. from Hugo Rune :

"Happy to pay a deposit for each appointment with the surgery keeping it if I don’t turn up or if I’m late."

NB. It would work both ways of course with them paying me a credit if the doctor is more than a few minutes late

This... Also why is it everyone who is called in before me appears to be in with doctor for 20 minutes, while my appointment never lasts more then 2!!!

As to the original question, no - healthcare should be free. If you can afford to pay then go private, don't clog up the system primarily designed for those less fortunate.

 

[CorgiRegisteredFriend]

We won't have a choice soon.

Means tested I guess.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Not sure if it's standard at every practice but I get a text both when an appointment gets set up and a reminder text the day before the appointment. Both have the option of responding to the text to cancel the appointment. Works really well. I guess with appointments sometimes set days or weeks in the future it is easy to forget, tho suspect a considerable percentage is people just not valuing the service they're being given because it's 'free'

 

[Westdene Seagull]

This... Also why is it everyone who is called in before me appears to be in with doctor for 20 minutes, while my appointment never lasts more then 2!!!

As to the original question, no - healthcare should be free. If you can afford to pay then go private, don't clog up the system primarily designed for those less fortunate.

**** cough **** National Insurance payments !!!!!

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Not sure if it's standard at every practice but I get a text both when an appointment gets set up and a reminder text the day before. Both have the option of responding to the text to cancel the appointment. Works really well.

And therein lies the problem. All doctors surgeries are private businesses - how they operate, outside a few very loose NHS guidelines, is up to them. So your surgery might have embraced technology - many haven't. It's time all surgeries were brought back in house and part of the NHS.

 

[SollysLeftFoot]

Yes.

Happy to pay a deposit for each appointment with the surgery keeping it if I don’t turn up or if I’m late.

This. I've often felt a large enough deposit but not too big so people cannot simply afford it, in order to ensure appointments are made. I feel like something should be introduced for A&E too, should someone come in on their own accord; though this is a simplistic overview but I think a more depository system would make it more fairer and also ensure people aren't abusing it.

Me and my missus struggle to get appointments at our local GP, thankfully through my employer I can reclaim any smallish private medical bill back; meaning we have to go private to get seen. Though it makes you wonder how many of the appointments each day are missed. I've never missed a doctor's appointment and it baffles me to think someone would without ringing up to cancel.

**** cough **** National Insurance payments !!!!!

National insurance is a ponzi scheme, your payments aren't for you they're for someone else. Which is a huge problem in itself...

 

[Stat Brother]

Means tested I guess.

and it'll be the mean doing the testing.


#ProjectFear-Again.

 

[CorgiRegisteredFriend]

I’d happily throw a quid into a bucket each time I leave the surgery.

 

[portlock seagull]

Would you pay for a doctors appointment? And how much?

I can not believe 17 million appointments are missed each year.

What a waste of time and money and it's people like Susanna Reid doing it, is it just Palarse wa**ers

Yes I said 17 million missed each year wtf.

So many of these are elderly people who forget or have appointments made for them but they’re then too scared to attend. Plenty have dementia or early stages of. Not excusing, just saying. It’s not all ‘can’t be arsed’ as many would be led to believe by such headlines. As usual more complex. and a fee would do little if nothing to address that. Be careful with your criticism young uns because you’re going to be the same one day!

 

[Deleted member 2719]

Maybe they were sick.

I agree Reid has all the symptoms of being sick.

But she was saying and in general its just people forgetting or not bothering to turn up.

No. If you introduce such a charge then those who can't afford to pay it will self limit their access to health care; these may well be the people who need it most. Universal free access to health care is one of this country's greatest achievements and should be defended and extended not undermined.

Same old leftie argument, they were suggesting just 50p.

We won't have a choice soon.

Come on Stat, since when have you been on the project fear campaign, it ain't going to happen.

 

[portlock seagull]

This. I've often felt a large enough deposit but not too big so people cannot simply afford it, in order to ensure appointments are made. I feel like something should be introduced for A&E too, should someone come in on their own accord; though this is a simplistic overview but I think a more depository system would make it more fairer and also ensure people aren't abusing it.

Me and my missus struggle to get appointments at our local GP, thankfully through my employer I can reclaim any smallish private medical bill back; meaning we have to go private to get seen. Though it makes you wonder how many of the appointments each day are missed. I've never missed a doctor's appointment and it baffles me to think someone would without ringing up to cancel.



National insurance is a ponzi scheme, your payments aren't for you they're for someone else. Which is a huge problem in itself...

It’s probably because you’ve not got to a time of life or need where you understand all the many issues relating to. There’s an enormous assortment of reasons, not least the people making appointments are ill! The service itself fosters some of the problem too, as you say getting appointments is very hard sometimes so people take them as ‘insurance’ and then don’t use. We also need a 24/7 service to reflect the economy. That would relieve some pressure. This entire ‘people are being selfish and not cancelling/hit em with a fine’ mentality is way too simple thinking of the problem and would even if introduced only address a small proportion of the issue IMO. It’s not going to happen anyway.