Labour has accused the Tories of trying to "erode" the principle of keeping the NHS free at the point of use after Rishi Sunak pledged to charge patients for missed appointments.
Tory leadership hopeful Mr Sunak pledged a crackdown on “waste” if he enters No10, with a plan to charge patients £10 for “second or subsequent” GP or outpatient appointments they miss - after a first offence.
The idea would be temporary while the NHS battles to clear the Covid backlog, which hit 6.6 million in May according to NHS England.
But the move was blasted by NHS leaders, who said it could hit the poorest and most vulnerable, and increase bureaucracy for stretched medics.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting accused the Conservatives of plans to extend user charging in the health service, in a move "they dare not say out loud".
Mr Streeting made the comments in response to calls by journalist Rachel Johnson, the Prime Minister's sister who left the Tories for the Lib Dems, to fine people £30 for missed appointments and a £25 charge for going to A&E.
The Labour frontbencher tweeted: "This is the Conservative agenda for the NHS that they dare not say out loud: extend user charging, gradually erode the Bevan principle of free at the point of use.
"Over my dead body."
Mr Sunak is scrambling to make up ground in the Tory leadership race, with polls putting his rival Liz Truss ahead with Conservative members.
In an interview with the Telegraph, he said it was "not right" that patients were failing to turn up for consultations, scans and check-ups, "taking those slots away from people who need [them]".
Around 15 million appointments are missed at GP surgeries per year in England, while 8 million outpatient appointments (6%) were also missed in 2019/20, Mr Sunak’s campaign said.
Under his plan, a patient would be given the benefit of the doubt for the first missed appointment but they would then face a £10 charge for a no-show.
NHS Confederation policy director Dr Layla McCay told the Mirror: “The administrative burden this would place on the NHS risks being considerable.
“And [it] could well far outweigh the money brought in by the fines.”
Dr Philip Banfield, council chair of doctors’ union the British Medical Association, said: “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.”
