Half of patients would support £10 fines for missed appointments as a way of securing additional funding for the NHS, new research has found.
A survey carried out by Ipsos Mori found that 51% of responders would support fines for patients who miss GP or hospital appointments.
Introducing a £10 fine was part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plans laid out during his bid to become Conservative Party leader, however he later shelved the policy saying it was ‘not the right time’.
The Ipsos Mori report said: ‘As the NHS becomes the most mentioned issue facing the country, we see mixed levels of support for different suggested measures to secure additional funding to maintain the health service.
‘Support is highest for charging people who miss appointments. Around half (51%) support a £10 fine for missed appointments (such as GPs or hospital appointments) while a third (34%) are opposed to the idea.’
Researchers also found support was much lower for other funding propositions as only 12% supported increasing prescription charges from £9.35 to £15, while 7 in 10 were opposed (72%).
Similarly, just 15% supported being charged a £10 fee for a visit to the GP, 71% were against.
Other findings of the survey included:
- Nearly a quarter of responders said they have avoided making a GP appointment in the past 12 months because they found it too difficult
- Three-quarters would be willing to see their GP virtually, including 59% who are happy to do this for advice on a minor ailment and 54% for advice on an ongoing problem or condition
Kate Duxbury, at Ipsos, said: ‘The NHS has faced a challenging winter and this has been feeding through to the public consciousness.
‘While we know from other research that the public think the NHS needs more funding, there is limited support for raising funds to maintain the NHS by increasing prescription charges or charging a £10 fee to see a GP – charging for missed appointments is more supported, though still only by half.’
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, who chairs the RCGP, said that charging patients for missed GP appointments would have the biggest impact on the must vulnerable
She said: ‘We would always ask patients who no longer need a GP appointment to let their practice know as soon as possible, so that the time can be offered to other patients.
‘However, the College does not agree with charging patients for missed appointments. This would have the biggest impact on our most vulnerable patients and only increase the administrative burden on GPs and their teams who are already working under immense pressures. Who would police this, and make sure patients paid up?
‘It’s as frustrating for GPs and our teams as it is for our patients, when people have difficulty accessing our care and services.
‘We want to be able to provide safe, timely and appropriate care to our patients when they need it. But decades of underfunding and poor workforce planning has left general practice in crisis.’
The College is calling on Government to implement a new recruitment and retention strategy that goes beyond the target of 6,000 more GPs it pledged in its election manifesto, as well as investment in GP practices and IT systems to make it easier for patients to access appropriate care.
It also said that the Government must ‘take steps to cut bureaucracy’ so that GPs have more time to deliver care to the growing numbers of patients who need it.
