Where did all the money go

[The Lone Gunman]

I've thought for a long time that we should charge to see the Doctor, but make prescriptions free.

That way one thinks twice about going to the Doctors, but if you really need it then you get the medicine.

If you have aches and pains use Ibuprofen or Paracetemol first see if that deals with it.

Got the sniffles. No you have not got the flu you daft pilchard. When you can't move then you might have flu, otherwise go to the Chemist and get Lemsip.

Go to any Doctors and I'm sure the vast majority have no need of a Doctor. Doctors do not have the time to make a proper diagnosis and that means serious conditions are not being found. When my mother went to the Doctor with what turned out to be Cancer she was told she was overweight, the real reason was water accumalating around the cancerous growths. If the Doctor had time maybe he could have made a proper diagnosis and she may be alive now rather than having died at the age of 48.

This may lead to people who are in desperate need not going, or others turning up in casualty.

Difficult one all round.

There should be a 20 quid fine for a no show or unnecesary home visit call.

[Joe Black]

Charge people £10 to see their GP's - many people can claim it back etc but it focuses the mind on attending the appointment - this works well in France and reduces waste.

Don't know about that. Same system here in Belgium. Go to doctor, pay up front (probably around £10 as well from what I remember) and you get a chit where you can claim 75% back, more I believe if you're on the social. Didn't seem like the people there were that different from the conversations I could hear. Usual stuff, flu, pain in back, not sleeping etc.

Then again the couple of times I've been to a doctor here I must say, however it's funded, the treatment was A+, modern surgery and all the equipment, decent amount of time spent, and for the follow up I could more or less choose which hospital and which consultant I wanted, which again cost very little for a half hour including tests etc.

[bobhope]

Here, you get a bill which you pay and reclaim 90% or so on insurance. It's interesting to see how much things really cost - £20 for blood analysis, etc. Also, the prescription drugs are quite often cheaper than the £5 (is it still that?) prescription charge.

[tim123]

This may lead to people who are in desperate need not going, or others turning up in casualty.

Difficult one all round.

There should be a 20 quid fine for a no show or unnecesary home visit call.

Then poor people with genuinely sick kids will not call out the doctor when they should.

As you say, it is a difficult one to get right.

Even with "no shows" it's hard. I was a no show at a hospital because the wait was too long and the GP arranged for me to go privately. Then she forgot to cancel the NHS appointment and I got a snottly letter complaining that I didn't go.

tim