Government plan to fine patients £10 if they miss NHS appointments
28 October 2022, 13:53 | Updated: 28 October 2022, 14:00
New Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to charge patients money if they miss their appointments.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is said to be looking at plans to fine people £10 if they miss an NHS England appointment.
As part of his leadership campaign in the summer, Mr Sunak said something needed to be done to stop time and money being wasted.
He said the fines would be in place until the huge waiting list backlog has been cleared.
Under the scheme, patients wouldn’t be fined for missing their first NHS appointment, but any after that would result in a £10 fine.
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According to NHS England, more than 15million GP appointments are missed every year, which amounts to 1.2 million hours and £216 million.
On top of that, eight million hospital and clinic outpatient slots are also missed by patients each year.
Since he came into power, Mr Sunak's spokesperson has now said he ‘stands by the sentiment’ of the fines and is ‘committed to ensuring that we get the best value for taxpayers, the best value for money out of the NHS’.
With waiting lists continuing to increase, Mr Sunak said tackling no-shows “could be instrumental in tackling the NHS backlog”.
The spokesperson also added that before this could become official government policy, Mr Sunak would have to discuss it with his Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay, MP.
The proposals have received mixed reactions, with The British Medical Association (BMA), which is the trade union for doctors, saying they will affect the most vulnerable.
He said financially penalising patients would ‘make matters worse’ and ‘threaten the principle that the NHS delivers free care’.
“Charging patients for missed appointments would not only undermine the essential trust between doctor and patient, but ultimately threaten the fundamental principle that the NHS delivers free care at the point of need, for all,” he said.
