Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is looking at plans to fine people £10 if they miss NHS England appointments, Downing Street has confirmed. Mr Sunak said it was a policy he wanted to introduce during his leadership campaign.
Mr Sunak's spokeswoman said he “stands by the sentiment” of the NHS fines idea and is “committed to ensuring that we get the best value for taxpayers, the best value for money out of the NHS”.
During his leadership campaign in the summer, Mr Sunak said action was needed to stop time being wasted in the NHS and said fines would be in place until the waiting list backlog has been cleared. Patients would not be fined for the first missed appointment.
More than 15million appointments with GPs are missed every year, reports The Telegraph, wasting 1.2 million hours and costing the NHS £216 million.
Another 8million hospital and clinic outpatient slots are missed each year.
The British Medical Association has condemned the plan. Council chair Philip Banfield said financially penalising patients would ‘make matters worse’ and ‘ultimately threaten the fundamental principle that the NHS delivers free care at the point of need for all’.
Dr Banfield said: "It’s terribly disappointing that the candidates standing to be the next prime minister seem to have so little understanding of the reality facing our NHS, or what it will take to turnaround the impact of the Government’s repeated mistakes and the now mammoth backlog of care.
‘"his latest suggestion would likely make matters worse. 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. The BMA has always stood firmly against the idea of charging patients for missed appointments.
"While it is frustrating when patients do not attend, the reasons why this happens should be investigated rather than simply resorting to punishing them. Financially penalising patients inevitably impacts the poorest and most vulnerable in the community. This may discourage them from rebooking, exacerbating already worsening health inequalities and costing the NHS more.
‘"nstead of reheating ideas that are of no practical value, the next prime minister should be urgently seeking to restore the confidence of the profession in this Government by tackling the huge losses in pay suffered over the last decade, scrapping the unfair pensions-tax rules forcing many experienced clinicians out of the NHS, and ensuring the NHS is adequately resourced for the huge challenges it faces."
Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation said: “At a time when general practice and other services are facing record levels of demand, health service leaders are working hard to use their stretched resources well. This includes supporting patients to attend appointments, and there are a range of ways this support has been extended already, including home visits, longer and weekend opening hours, remote consultations and managing appointments via the NHS app.
“However, it is important to recognise that the reasons patients do not or cannot attend their appointments will be complex. Penalising them unfairly will not solve the problem and working with local communities to address the root causes is essential. The administrative burden this would place on the NHS risks being considerable and could well far outweigh the money brought in by the fines.
“This proposal will also not solve the fundamental and long-term issues the NHS is currently grappling with.
“These include health service staffing levels with vacancies which now stand at 105,000 as well as the impact of spiralling inflation costs on the NHS, and the ongoing pressures being felt across the whole system including in social care.”
