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Former Health Secretary Sajid Javid’s proposal that patients should be charged for GP appointments and A&E visits was met with anger and frustration, and was described as a ‘slippery slope’ that threatened NHS principles. explained.
Conservative MPs say the NHS’s current model is “unsustainable” and want reforms to address increased waiting times at means-tested fares while protecting low-income earners. increase.
Javid said the “extension of the contribution principle” should be part of a sweeping reform to address waiting times, calling for “hard-headed conversations of adults about alternatives” and “notifying the NHS.” The appreciation of ‘religious fervor too often becomes a barrier to reform,’ he wrote in an op-ed article. Times.
“We need to consider extending the contribution principle across parties,” he wrote. “This conversation will not be easy, but it will help the NHS distribute its finite supply more effectively.”
Mr Javid, who will not stand for the next election, argued that “the NHS’s 75-year-old model is unsustainable” and accused Ireland of a “nominal €75 fee” for going to a wound care unit without a referral. Pointed out £20. Charges for his GP appointments in Norway and Sweden as possible models.
His ideas have sparked outrage from the public, highlighting that many already pay for GP appointments and A&E visits through taxes and national insurance premiums.
Campaigners have also denounced his proposal as threatening the very principle that the NHS should be free for everyone in their time of need.
Dr Nick Mann, General Practitioner and Member Keep the NHS openA non-party political organization that campaigns against NHS privatization and underfunding, Me: “In reality, charging patients for GP access or A&E visits is a zombie idea, costly to operate, and acts as a deterrent to the patient groups most in need of care.” To do.
“People already pay for the NHS with their tax dollars. The idea of charging patients extra to access essential health care is a slippery slope. Look at dentistry.
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“This is a crisis created by the government itself. Their failure to invest in the NHS over the past 13 years has created a situation that is now unthinkable.
“Instead of introducing fees, governments should invest in public services where everyone is protected. It’s just a pastime.”
Professor Philip Banfield British Medical Association Council“Charging patients to use health services threatens a fundamental NHS principle that must be protected: providing free care for all when they need it. .
“For too long, health services have been plagued with underfunding and underresources, especially since austerity tightened in 2010.
“It is because of the government’s repeated and misguided ideological mistakes that the NHS entered the Covid-19 pandemic so poorly prepared and is now facing a huge backlog of treatment.
“Between 2010 and 2019, the UK average health care cost was £3,005 per person per day, 18% below the EU14 average of £3,655.
“The country is now paying for this lack of long-term investment with increasingly poor health.”
He added:
“While demand may decline in the short term, people who need treatment but are struggling to pay for GP appointments are more likely to see a doctor when they need it, or in the later stages of their illness. You may decide to go to the hospital in which case the treatment will be more expensive.
“This risks exacerbating the health condition of the poorest patients.
“What the former health secretary has to admit is that the government has broken its promise to the public to increase the number of general practitioners.
“Since September 2015, we have lost the equivalent of 1,973 fully qualified full-time GPs. And to be able to meet that need.Patience.
“Charging patients is not the answer, it is providing what the NHS needs to function properly.
“It is neither fair nor ethical to expect patients to pay for mistakes they didn’t make.”
Sarah Gorton unison A health ministry official said:
“To do so, the government needs to talk to unions and commit to an appropriate wage increase immediately.”
The prime minister is not currently considering Sajid Javid’s proposal, Downing Street said.
Rishi Sunak planned to fine patients £10 for missing GP and hospital appointments during the Tory leadership election campaign.
However, after being widely criticized by health leaders, he backed off from his pledges, pointing to controversy over reforms that could threaten the principle of free NHS care in times of need.
Labor’s secret health secretary, Wes Streeting, has lashed out at Sajid Javid’s NHS proposal. “On my corpse,” he tweeted.
“The NHS free when used has been its core equitable principle for 75 years. Patients don’t have to worry about bills.
“Labor, who founded the NHS, depends on taking the greatest crisis in history and adapting it for the future.”
