Patients should be charged for GP appointments and A&E visits, Sajid Javid has said, as he called the present model of the NHS “unsustainable”. The former health secretary said “extending the contributory principle” should be part of radical reforms to tackle growing waiting times.
In an op-ed for The Times, he called for a “grown-up, hard-headed conversation” about revamping the health service, noting that “too often the appreciation for the NHS has become a religious fervour and a barrier to reform”. The Prime Minister is not “currently” considering the proposals, Downing Street told the newspaper.
During his campaign for the Tory leadership, Rishi Sunak set out plans to fine patients who miss GP and hospital appointments £10. But he backtracked on the pledge after it was widely criticised by health leaders, signalling the controversy surrounding any reforms that could threaten the principle of free NHS care at the point of need.
