Plans to charge patients for missed GP and hospital appointments could be back on the agenda in the next Conservative manifesto, according to a health minister.
Speaking to ITV yesterday, junior minister Maria Caulfield said that while the policy is not ‘on the table right now’, the Government is ‘not ruling it out for the future’.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak first announced plans to introduce a £10 fine as part of his first leadership bid last summer, but he shelved the plans in October saying it was not the right time to take the policy forward.
Ms Caulfield, who serves as the parliamentary under-secretary of state for mental health and women’s health strategy, said missed appointments ‘cost the NHS a huge amount of money both in primary care with GPs but also in secondary in hospitals and for procedures’.
However, she said the Government’s current focus is to use ‘digital transformation’ to make it ‘as easy as possible’ for patients to cancel appointments or to keep updated with their appointment date to avoid forgetting.
The minister, who has worked as an NHS nurse, said they ‘recognise that there’s a multitude of reasons why people miss appointments’.
She said: ‘I’ve worked in many a clinic where people haven’t turned up. The vast majority of those are not because people have deliberately not bothered to turn up.
‘Many times they didn’t receive the letter in time, or they forgot about the appointment, or they were unwell and couldn’t get through to cancel appointments.’
Under Mr Sunak’s plans last year, patients would be given the ‘benefit of the doubt’ for their first missed consultation but after that would incur a £10 charge each time.
His backer at the time, Tory MP Greg Hands, said that it will be up to GPs to make the judgement as to whether to fine a patient.
But the BMA criticised these plans, saying it had always been in opposition to a policy of charging patients for missed appointments.
A spokesperson for Mr Sunak told Pulse in October that the plans had been shelved following negative feedback from GPs.
But Ms Caulfield hinted yesterday that the policy may resurface in future, saying that while there are no ‘immediate plans’, there is a ‘good argument’ for it.
When asked whether it could appear in the Conservative Party’s next general election manifesto, the minister responded: ‘Potentially, yes’.
Over 1.2 million GP appointments in England were marked as ‘did not attend’ in May this year, which amounted to 4.5% of the total, according to NHS figures.
In February, a survey by Ipsos Mori found that 51% of patients would support fines for those who miss GP or hospital appointments.
And in January, former health secretary Sajid Javid said patients should pay a fee to see their GP in order to reduce demand.
Plan to charge for missed appointments May be on table and i if they wiln election then they might. Too many if and buts to comment. At this stage. One more reason for voter to get them out.
DNAs in GP aren’t like DNAs used to be in my hospital jobs.
Then, if a patient DNAd, I had nothing I could usefully do until the next patient arrived.
At the surgery, if a patient DNAs, I can get on with other work.
fines for missed appointments, add fees for appointments attended and pay per item of service- and we might just begin to see a recovering and functioning health service. But that’s too obvious to consider for our “leaders”
The problem is once a transaction takes place and the patient believes they are now a paying customer, it does leave open the increased chance of complaint if the patient has any perception that they have not had “ their money’s worth ‘ . It changes the relationship completely.
How about paying for appointments when booking appointment. if they attend they get a refund!
It reduce DNA`s and also people will think twice before booking an appointment.
No, Ian, paying for service makes people value each item of service they receive.
I am fed up with typical NHS presentations like: “my knee hurts so much that it makes me feeling depressed, so I comfort eat and because of this put weight on, which in turn affects my libido so relationships with my wife are affected and I think she could be thinking about leaving me. So, Doc, can you sort me some painkillers, Ozempic, Viagra and sort out my life asap”. Occasionally that is followed by “please”
It’s almost as if there is an election coming up.
fines for DNAs is one of those policies that sounds great on a soapbox in the community – like somehow it will solve all the GP access problems.
A stupid unworkable idea.
Someone have a word in her ear.
Absolutely Slobber Dog who would manage this process & no doubt endless appeals & arguments about any fine so bound to solve the problem & turn a profit😂😂
FINES WOULD SIMPLY TRIGGER A BACKLASH OF MORE VEXATIOUS COMPLAINTS-REVENGE FOR BEING FINED A FIVER.
PATIENTS CAN CURRENTLY MAKE ANY COMPLAINT THEY WANT AND UNLIKE ALL OTHER WALKS OF LIFE YOU ARE GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT.
NOBODY WOULD PAY……
IN ANY OTHER WALK OF LIFE THERE IS NO DIALOGUE OVER PAYING FINES-EITHER YOU PAY OR YOU FACE CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS…….BUT THE WORLD OF GENERAL PRACTICE IS IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE–THE IDEA WOULD NEVER WORK.
As GPs our financial contract is with the NHS/government. Do not get patients involved in this. Just provide a sensible activity based contract. Everything goes through our clinical systems anyway. Attach a tariff to each activity. The commissioner pays for each action; resource follows the patient through their journey.
Just pay for the work being done. Please!
Fines for missed appointments:
who sets the level?
who sets the exclusions ? – If you have no money then you really can’t pay.. Should really I send a bailiff??? & Then book the patient with my social prescriber because he has a debt problem…..
Who fills in the forms to say certain people are exempt from this system? ( me probably…..Oh and there will be very many….will add to my ‘to do’ list for Sunday)
Is it means tested ?
does it apply to all appointments in the GP surgery?
Differential rates for nurse/HCA/pharmacist appointment- you get the picture?
Also, if it costs £20 to miss an appointment- what stops someone with the means from booking 3 appointments because they can afford to lose the cash if for someone reason they can”t make the allotted time?
Who sets the level of the fine? Is £ 20 acceptable? Is that how much my time is worth to society?… Depends of you are an older person with competing co-morbidities that don’t fit a guideline & could perhaps end up in A&E or perhaps someone with with a more simple problem?
This ‘charge for appointments narrative needs to stop’ ; it lacks nuance & is likely to lead to more work/hassle for GP’s in those practices with the highest rates of IMD