A £10 charge to visit a GP would be just the start of a slippery slope for the NHS

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Northerner

Northerner

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We either let our NHS be trashed by the privatisers and cutters, or we defend a properly funded, publicly run, universal system that is free at the point of use.

A slow hand clap for Andy McGovern, a London hospital nurse who has proposed that the Royal College of Nursing supports a £10 charge to visit a GP. On its own terms, the proposal is an unacceptable assault on the very foundations of the NHS: that it is free at the point of use. But the suggestion is so menacing because of where it originates from. The many enemies of the NHS – who have to be diplomatic, knowing that the NHS "is the closest the English have to a religion", as Nigel Lawson once put it – will rejoice. "Aha!" they will think. "Now even the nurses are debating NHS charges, we have been given the political cover we need!"

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/18/10-charge-to-visit-gp-nhs

:( Owen Jones is always worth a read.
 
The moment we start charging will be the end of the nhs. That is my personal thoughts.

I do agree something needs to be put in place for the people time wasting/abusing the nhs.
 
My daily thingy from YouGov wanted to know how people would prefer to fund the NHS. Among the choices were a charge for each visit or a tax increase. The vast majority chose the tax increase. I'd settle for that too, provided the money raised was actually spent on the NHS and not some useless corporate war.
 
AlisonM said:
My daily thingy from YouGov wanted to know how people would prefer to fund the NHS. Among the choices were a charge for each visit or a tax increase. The vast majority chose the tax increase. I'd settle for that too, provided the money raised was actually spent on the NHS and not some useless corporate war.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The ring-fenced tax increase is a Labour policy for the next election. I think the trouble with starting charging for things will lead to a situation like the airlines, where you have to go through pages and pages of things that once used to be included and now are 'extras' - all in the name of 'choice'.

I once read an article about a guy in the US who was young fit and otherwise healthy, but ended up being admitted with appendicitis (I think). Although he had good insurance, he still came out with a bill of over $28,000 😱

We've just been told we have the best and one of the cheapest healthcare systems in the world, more expensive only than New Zealand - I don't mind paying a bit more tax (and therefore related to ability to pay) to put us up into top spot.
 
I think that most people wouldn't object to paying a bit more tax or National Insurance if they were certain it would go to the NHS
The question is, of course, can we trust the politicians?
 
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