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Rishi Sunak registered with GP that charges £250 for appointments

Rishi Sunak is registered with a private GP practice which charges £250 for a 30-minute appointment on the SAME day

  • Private clinic ‘guarantees’ patients with urgent concerns will be seen same day
  • It comes as NHS data shows less than half of Britons get a same day appointment
  • The PM’s GP also offers a full 30-munite consultation at an eye-watering £250
  • Only 50% of Britons in some parts of England get to see their GP for 10 minutes

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is registered with a private GP that guarantees same day appointments, but charges £250 for the privilege. 

The revelation comes less than 24 hours after Mr Sunak vowed to protect the NHS as being free for all at the point of use.

According to reports, the prime minister uses a west London clinic that charges £250 for a 30minute consultation, and offers appointments in the evenings and weekends.

It also charges £150 for email and phone consultations, and also offer home visits for between £400 and £500 depending on if they are during the day or night.  

The clinic, which the Guardian did not name, also charges £80 for prescriptions. 

Mr Sunak opting to use a private GP that guarantees prompt and personalised care comes as Britons are struggling to see their family doctor.

The latest NHS data shows that just over two-thirds of appointments with GPs in England in September were face-to-face. 

While the 68.1 per cent figure is an improvement compared to previous months it is still well below the 80 per cent average before the pandemic struck.

And in comparison to Mr Sunak’s half-an-hour consultations, around half of ordinary Britons in some parts of the country, like Leicester, Nottingham and Suffolk, only had an appointment lasting 10 minutes or less in September.

Appointments are supposed to last 10 to 15 minutes, with an NHS review finding that patients feel they are unable to cover their health problems in a shorter timeframe.

Additionally, only 41.5 per cent of appointments carried out by GPs in September were same day consultations. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is registered with a private GP that guarantees same day appointments buts costs £250 a for an in-person consultation

The latest NHS data shows the number of face-to-face GP appointments in September hit 68.1 per cent, the highest it has been since the start of the pandemic, the NHS Digital data revealed

Ireland

Public health services are free or offered at a reduced charge. Certain services incur fees, for example, it costs around £90 to attend A&E without being referred by your GP.

Netherlands

Residents pay around £90 a month for mandatory health insurance cover, which includes emergency care. Some services are free, including appointments with GPs.

France

You must have basic health insurance. The system is funded by mandatory social security contributions, the government, and patient contributions.

Germany

Health insurance is mandatory here too. Most residents pay 14.6 per cent of their gross salary into a public ‘statutory’ health insurer.

Denmark

The majority of public healthcare is free but prescriptions must be paid for.

Tory MPs were quick to defend Mr Sunak’s ‘private’ health choices this morning. 

Former international trade secretary Liam Fox said it is a ‘free country’ when asked about the issue on Sky News.

‘The Prime Minister and the Government are judged by what they do for the NHS… what they do with their private money is up to them,’ he said.

‘I don’t have private insurance but I don’t in any way think that people should not do that if that’s what they choose to do.

‘Anyone is entitled to do that, this is a free country. It cannot be that we tell some people they cannot do that.’

Labour’s shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said people can judge for themselves whether their leaders are aware of the ‘genuine problems’ around accessing healthcare. 

‘People can make their own decisions whether their leaders, their politicians, are aware of the genuine problems they face when accessing healthcare and they can decide who’s got the best policies to alleviate some of that going forward themselves.’ 

Mr Sunak refused to answer questions about his private healthcare arrangements at the G20 summit in Bali last week, saying that it was ‘not appropriate’ to talk ‘about one’s family’s healthcare’. 

The prime minister’s use of private GP, rather than relying on the same public funded doctors comes just a day after his public vow to protect the NHS.

Yesterday, during a speech to the Confederation of British Industry, he outlined his commitment to a free health service.

‘I grew up in an NHS family, it’s in my blood, and as your Prime Minister I will always protect an NHS free at the point of use,’ he said.

His comments came in the wake of an NHS controversy in Scotland after leaked minutes between health chiefs revealed discussions of a ‘two-tier’ health service.

The officials which met in September to discuss the sustainability of the NHS touted the prospect of making wealthier Britons pay to use the health service. 

Any move to charge patients for care would spark huge backlash among the public because it goes against the founding principle of the NHS that treatment should be free for all.  

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she ’emphatically’ rejected the idea of a two-tier NHS, adding that it was not up for discussion. 

The leaked minutes did not give any proposed threshold for income or wealth where Britons would be forced to pay for NHS care. 

Today’s private GP revelation is not the first time Mr Sunak has been embroiled in controversy with how British people see, or in his case, don’t see NHS family doctors.

Last month he ditched his failed Tory leadership campaign pledge to fine patients who miss GP and hospital appointments £10.

Almost 1.4million GP appointments were missed in September this year, according to official NHS data. It is the highest monthly toll since November last year (1.43m)

The prospect was widely criticised by health leaders at the time. Unions described it as a ‘reheated idea of no practical value’.

Speaking last month a Downing Street spokesperson said that while Mr Sunak believes Britons ‘should not be missing their appointments’ he had decided that ‘now is not the right time’ for the policy. 

Official figures show that the number of GP appointment no-shows are near record levels. 

More than £100million could have been raised this year if each patient was fined £10 for not turning up.

What could a two-tier NHS even look like? From a social care-esque cap to charging patients £200 just to turn up to A&E at night 

The hugely-controversial idea of a two-tier NHS was thrust into the limelight today after it was revealed that health bosses in Scotland touted the idea of potentially charging the wealthy to access care.

This was just one idea discussed at a leaked meeting of senior officials on how to fix the health service’s financial woes and boost its ongoing sustainability. 

The idea goes against the very founding principal of the NHS that treatment should be free for all, whatever their means.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already shut down the prospect of a two-tier system, reacting to the leaked document by saying the idea was ‘not up for discussion’.

And, while not pressed directly on the issue, Rishi Sunak vowed to ‘always protect’ the health service as being free at the point of use during a speech.

But political commentators say the concept has quietly been emerging over the past few years, especially in the wake of Covid.  

It comes as increasing numbers of Britons opt to pay for treatment privately, to skip record-long NHS waiting lists.

But what could a two-tier system really look like?

Here, MailOnline looks at four potential models based on what is happening already in the health service and elsewhere in the British Isles, including one place where you could end up paying £200 to use an A&E at night, rising to over £500 if you’re badly injured.

How could a two-tier NHS system work in principle, here MailOnline presents four basic scenarios based on already existing health systems in the UK and those used by British citizens in places like the islands in the English Channel,

Could wealthier mothers-to-be, cancer patients and the elderly pay for their own medications and dentist appointments?

One of the key differences between the NHS in some nations of the UK is if you pay for prescriptions. 

In Scotland, patients don’t have to pay a thing for prescription medication, while in England many patients must pay full price for most drugs.

However, there are exemptions.

Currently, regardless of wealth, people over the age of 60, pregnant women, children, patients with cancer and a range of other conditions in England are among the people who don’t have to pay a thing. 

People on low incomes are also protected from prescription charges.  

There are also other perks, all expectant mothers for example get access to free dental check-ups on the NHS which continues for a year after their due date.  

One way a two-tier system NHS could work would be to remove these exemptions for people who earn above a certain income or asset threshold.

This would be controversial and would likely see some people whose income just tips them into the determined threshold being significantly worse off compared to those who earn just under the limit.

But it would bring in billions for the NHS, which spends £16.7billion on drugs last year.  

The idea of people of means paying for some NHS services has been proposed before.

In his 1995 column, Mr Johnson said it seemed reasonable that the middle classes earners should be able to pay for non-essential services that they could ‘well afford’. 

Should the wealthy pay a special tax to access NHS services like the one we have for immigrants?

Another potential way to create a two-tier NHS would be to create a special tax that the wealthy could pay to access the health service if the need arose.

England already has a such a system in place for immigrants coming to the UK which could be used as a model.

Called the immigration health surcharge, this sees anyone who immigrates to the UK to live and work charged £624 per year plus £470 per year for any dependents under the age of 18. 

This charge is based on the potential need of these people to use the NHS and is not reflective of how often or little they use it. 

The charges end when a person leaves or becomes eligible to remain in the UK permanently and they choose to do so. 

Expanding such a scheme to Britons would be highly controversial to say the least.

Since Britons, or their parents, have effectively already paid taxes for years to support NHS services it would effectively be charging some people twice. 

But it provides an example of already charging one segment of the population for its potential use of NHS services.  

Could we charge some wealthier Britons to access emergency services?

The idea of charging people for accessing emergency services or health care in general seems outrageous to most Britons and would evoke fears of hospital bills running into the thousands. 

However, there are parts of the British Isles where it is happening already.

Located in the English Channel, the Isle of Guernsey and Isle of Jersey do not have an NHS — despite being under the protection of Britain and having British citizenship. 

Their system, where people pay either entirely or in part for hospital and GP services that are free in the UK, gives a peak into what a two-tier system for the NHS might look like.

The Isle of Guernsey charges people for A&E care based whether it is on or off peak, and the amount of medical intervention needed. 

For adults this can start at £120, which covers minor treatment at a hospital between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday.

But life-saving treatment between the hours of 11pm and 8am could cost as much as £570.

The Isle of Guernsey charges people to visit A&E, could a similar system be one day brought into a ‘two-tier’ NHS

The system also applies to GP appointments, with the average cost to see a doctor about £50.

It is not without its exemptions, like the UK the isles also recognise the importance of reducing barriers to pregnant women and young children accessing healthcare.

For example, hospital treatment for children on Guernsey only costs £25, though this only applies to residents, not visitors. 

A two-tier system for the NHS could work similarly, Britons below an income threshold or in vulnerable groups would be entitled to free care emergency care whereas wealthier people would have to pay extra on top of their tax. 

Could the wealthier elderly Britons be asked to sell their homes to access NHS care?

Whatever the model, any prospective two-tier NHS system would require a method to determine who could keep using the NHS for free, and who would have to pay.

One model that already exists is the means test for social care in England.

If a person is eligible for free social care is determined by how much money you have.

In England, the local council will generally help pay for care costs if the person has less than £23,250 in savings.  

The more you have over this amount, the more you will be expected to pay.  

A two-tier NHS system could use a similar model, if you have over a certain amount in savings you pay, if not, you don’t. 

In the last few days flagship plans to cap the cost of social care were delayed for two years.

The measure, which was due to come into effect next October, would have limited the amount anyone would have to pay for care in later life to £86,000.

It would have drastically reduce the pressure on people to sell homes that could have otherwise been inherited by family. 

The delay, announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last week, is expected to save £1billion next year and up to £3billion in subsequent years if the cap is further pushed back.

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  • Posted on November 25, 2022