But last night campaigners said the crisis in NHS hospitals was due to GPs no longer providing a proper out-of-hours service.
A
third of 800 GPs polled by doctors.net.uk backed billing patients £5 or
£10 for visiting A&E. Refunds were proposed if the trip was deemed
necessary.
One unnamed GP said: “If patients had
to pay a £5 charge to attend A&E...I think they would be more
inclined to take their coughs and colds to the pharmacist where they
belong.
“The idea that we should provide more and more access simply encourages people to attend at the drop of a hat.
“Charging patients would be difficult to instigate but I bet A&E attendances would drop dramatically overnight.”
Joyce
Robins for Patient Concern hit back, saying: “If GPs hadn’t dumped
their responsibilities on A&E the crisis wouldn’t have happened.
“Presumably ambulance crews would have to stand by until a patient could find their purse.”
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt wants changes to GP contracts introduced by Labour in 2004 which he said had enabled doctors to drop responsibility for out-of-hours care. Dr Tim Ringrose of doctors.net.uk said: “With emergency departments increasingly being used for trivial complaints, it is not surprising many GPs believe people who abuse the system should be hit in the pocket.” Dr Chaand Nagpaul, for the BMA’s GP committee, said: “Both GP practices and A&E departments are under enormous pressure. But we will not solve the problem by penalising less well off patients by erecting financial barriers within the health service.” The Department of Health said A&E charges would go against the founding principles of the NHS. Funding for the NHS should no longer be ring-fenced as “throwing money” at it had failed to deliver improvements, former Tory Cabinet minister Dr Liam Fox said yesterday.
