- 3 updates
GPs to vote on charging patients for appointments
Doctors will vote on whether to charge patients for GP appointments later today at the British Medical Association Local Medical Committees (LMCs) Conference. Missed appointments cost the NHS £160m a year and many GPs feel free care is unsustainable.
Live updates
GP: We need to find 'alternative ways of funding'
GPs are asking the Government to sit down with them to find "alternative ways to fund General Practice" as part of a motion to consider charging for appointments.
Dr Helena McKweown was speaking to Good Morning Britain earlier about the proposals.
One visit to GP 'costs £45'
A single 11.7 minute trip to the GP costs the NHS £45, according to Government data.
The 2013 Units Health and Social Care report from the Personal Social Services Research found:
- It costs £27 for a 7.1 minute telephone consultation with a GP.
- Home visits from a GP lasting 23.4 minutes are £114.
- One prescription from your GP costs £41.35. This includes the cost of the drug too.
- A 15 minute appointment with your nurse in a GP practice costs £13.
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GPs to vote on charging for appointments
GPs will vote on whether to start charging patients for appointments, which they say will take some of the burden off family doctors.
Missed appointments cost the NHS £160 million a year and many doctors feel it's unsustainable to continue offering free care.
Family doctor's have increasingly voiced concerns over strains put on GP services by the growing number of obese and elderly patients.
They will cast their vote at the British Medical Association Local Medical Committees (LMCs) Conference later this afternoon.