Should we pay £10 to see our GP?

[Saphira]

If you are employed your employer pays for it. If you are unemployed the job centre will pay for it. If you are self employed I believe you pay about 120€ a month. So unless you're self employed you don't pay for anything.

This year they scrapped the 10€ every three months but last year you would pay that at the doctor and that would cover you at that doctor and a female doctor if you needed one. You'd also pay 10€ at the dentist. If you're on a low income you get a card which you show which makes you exempt.

This year I had gallbladder surgery and I had to pay 110€ towards it (the whole thing cost 4000€ I had so many tests done) but because I'm on a low income I didn't have to. If I was earning enough I wouldn't have minded paying for it as I only had to wait two days for the operation and the aftercare was top notch. I only had to pay 20€ towards the cost of my pregnancy. I had several scans (Germans firmly believe more scans are better and Germany has a rather low stillbirth rate - 4th lowest in Europe I believe), a free 3D scan and loads more. The insurance also paid for a family midwife to visit me twice a week and help me out with this like shopping, baby groups etc and all I paid was 20€.

So yeah, right now the 10€ every three months isn't applicable and your employer/job centre pay for main insurance. Some things you don't have to contribute to but when you do it's not much.

I'd rather pay for an excellent service than get a not so good one for free.

Yeah, Germany has an awesome healthcare system. Can't complain at all. Well, eye care can be costly as well as dental care. Overall a top system though. 8% of everyone's monthly pay goes toward health insurance and it's taken straight out of the paycheck so you wouldn't have even known it was ever there. I like that much better than being responsible for covering yourself. Too iffy for me.

By the way, how were you able to get all those midwife visits? I wish I would have known about all that when I was pregnant with my first. I had no idea about all the help available!

 

[dgirllamius]

By the way, how were you able to get all those midwife visits? I wish I would have known about all that when I was pregnant with my first. I had no idea about all the help available!

I had a midwife at the lady doctor who told me about the family midwife. I was entitled for her to come visit for a year and didn't have to pay towards it. I think you're only entitled for your first child but I'm not sure. It really helped having her come round seeing as I lacked so much support from elsewhere.

 

[catty]

Im unsure where I stand on this one. Last week I went in with my aon because he had an inflamed toe. I was slightly embarrased to be wasting the doctors time as it could well be nothing, turns out he may need surgery on hia toe and its growing the wrong way, had I had to pay I wouldnt have went because it wasnt bothering him and wasnt overly concerning. However I think we need to pay somewhere but noone wants to pay for what they didnt before lets be honest.

I got paid £535 per month to study nursing, I lived at home so used that money to get drunk and buy new clothes - why did they give me this money for free?? I studied for 3 months in belgium and they gave me 400 euros a month on top of that, id no bills to pay so was living a life of luxury. Then after 3 years we got a letter saying the job fayre had been cancelled as there were no jobs, I applied to 4 different jobs in different cities and got letters back saying the position had been closed due to funding. Out of my class of 23 only 4 people went on to work as nurses - shocking really (dont get me wrong id love to be a nurse didnt do it just for money)

 

[Eternal]

Im unsure where I stand on this one. Last week I went in with my aon because he had an inflamed toe. I was slightly embarrased to be wasting the doctors time as it could well be nothing, turns out he may need surgery on hia toe and its growing the wrong way, had I had to pay I wouldnt have went because it wasnt bothering him and wasnt overly concerning. However I think we need to pay somewhere but noone wants to pay for what they didnt before lets be honest.

I got paid £535 per month to study nursing, I lived at home so used that money to get drunk and buy new clothes - why did they give me this money for free?? I studied for 3 months in belgium and they gave me 400 euros a month on top of that, id no bills to pay so was living a life of luxury. Then after 3 years we got a letter saying the job fayre had been cancelled as there were no jobs, I applied to 4 different jobs in different cities and got letters back saying the position had been closed due to funding. Out of my class of 23 only 4 people went on to work as nurses - shocking really (dont get me wrong id love to be a nurse didnt do it just for money)

But most of us do pay through our national insurance, the NHS isn't free at all. It is free at the point on contact but we certainly do pay for it.

I guess you didn't qualify as a nurse though? I do agree about the bursary, so many people did it when I trained just because they got paid not because they wanted to be nurses.

 

[catty]

Im unsure where I stand on this one. Last week I went in with my aon because he had an inflamed toe. I was slightly embarrased to be wasting the doctors time as it could well be nothing, turns out he may need surgery on hia toe and its growing the wrong way, had I had to pay I wouldnt have went because it wasnt bothering him and wasnt overly concerning. However I think we need to pay somewhere but noone wants to pay for what they didnt before lets be honest.

I got paid £535 per month to study nursing, I lived at home so used that money to get drunk and buy new clothes - why did they give me this money for free?? I studied for 3 months in belgium and they gave me 400 euros a month on top of that, id no bills to pay so was living a life of luxury. Then after 3 years we got a letter saying the job fayre had been cancelled as there were no jobs, I applied to 4 different jobs in different cities and got letters back saying the position had been closed due to funding. Out of my class of 23 only 4 people went on to work as nurses - shocking really (dont get me wrong id love to be a nurse didnt do it just for money)

But most of us do pay through our national insurance, the NHS isn't free at all. It is free at the point on contact but we certainly do pay for it.

I guess you didn't qualify as a nurse though? I do agree about the bursary, so many people did it when I trained just because they got paid not because they wanted to be nurses.

I did qualify but there just werent any jobs available at the time when I graduated. Its now been 3 years so id have to retrain to get a nursing job now

 

[Eternal]

Im unsure where I stand on this one. Last week I went in with my aon because he had an inflamed toe. I was slightly embarrased to be wasting the doctors time as it could well be nothing, turns out he may need surgery on hia toe and its growing the wrong way, had I had to pay I wouldnt have went because it wasnt bothering him and wasnt overly concerning. However I think we need to pay somewhere but noone wants to pay for what they didnt before lets be honest.

I got paid £535 per month to study nursing, I lived at home so used that money to get drunk and buy new clothes - why did they give me this money for free?? I studied for 3 months in belgium and they gave me 400 euros a month on top of that, id no bills to pay so was living a life of luxury. Then after 3 years we got a letter saying the job fayre had been cancelled as there were no jobs, I applied to 4 different jobs in different cities and got letters back saying the position had been closed due to funding. Out of my class of 23 only 4 people went on to work as nurses - shocking really (dont get me wrong id love to be a nurse didnt do it just for money)

But most of us do pay through our national insurance, the NHS isn't free at all. It is free at the point on contact but we certainly do pay for it.

I guess you didn't qualify as a nurse though? I do agree about the bursary, so many people did it when I trained just because they got paid not because they wanted to be nurses.

I did qualify but there just werent any jobs available at the time when I graduated. Its now been 3 years so id have to retrain to get a nursing job now

I worked as a nurse but I'd have to retrain now too as I've not worked since my eldest was born and he is nearly 4! Argh, not that a see myself going back.

 

[minties]

We have a national health system in New Zealand, and I am happy to pay to see the doctor. Under 6's are free. I pay $37 to see my doctor which I feel is on the high side, in my last town it was $15.

Prescriptions for mpst adult medications are subsidised. I usually pay $3 for a prescription. The kids stuff has always been free. I've always gotten same day appointments.

I am having an operation to remove my gallbladder next week at no cost, and waited just over 3 months for this (once gall stones were diagnosed). I'm very happy!

Maternity care is great. You choose an independant midwife who sees you for all of your (free) appointments and attends the birth of your baby. Pregnancy scans are either free or cheap, and you get referals and make your own appointments. They are done at seperate clinics, not in a hospital (usually).

 

[lhancock90]

I wouldn't like to see a charge for appointments no, it's a slippery slope I think to start charging, I think more and more charges would be imposed and then our NHS would be lost.
However I agree with charging for missed appointments. Is it that hard to pick up the phone and cancel?!
I think there are ways the NHS can make money but this just isn't one of them. I agree with a previous poster who said it'll stop people who desperately need a doctor from going.
My grandmother sure as hell wouldn't pay 10 for an appointment and would end up bloody dying out of sheer pride.

 

[tinkerbelle93]

hmm ten pounds for an appointment seems a bit steep. But I do only go to the GP if I have a genuine concern and I cannot stand how rushed it is, how they try and get you seen and out within a couple of minutes and don't have any time to answer any your questions and queries and dismiss everything. In my magazine on the problem page with the doctor there's a little mention about not rushing off to the gp because you have a cold or flu.. apparently people going to the drs thinking they can get treatment costs millions of pounds every year, when really there's no need to because you can't take anything for it. So it does kind of annoy me thinking of people taking up appointment because they have a cold or whatever. xx