News

Public believes in free health care but fears it will be lost

A Right-wing think tank has published the results of a survey which it claims show that the public would accept the introduction of charges to use the NHS.

The Social Market Foundation, which commissioned a survey of 2,000 adults published this month, wants the government to gradually introduce new charges for health care, such as £5 to visit a GP.

Its survey reveals a gap between what people think should happen and what they believe will happen in practice.

For example, 91 per cent of those polled felt that GP services should still be free in 10 years time, but only 53 per cent thought that this would turn out to be the case.

The SMF believes that ‘public policy makers should seize this opportunity’ to introduce NHS charges.

The report’s authors, Nick Bosanquet and Stephen Pollard, argue: ‘If a prescription costs £5.75, paying £5 for a visit to the GP is hardly extortionate.’

But others have pointed out that the survey provides clear evidence of the importance which the public attaches to health care which is free at the point of use, suggesting that ill-judged attempts to extend charges would prompt strong resistance.

The NHS Confederation, which represents health authorities and trusts, has argued against new charges in its recent evidence to the government’s comprehensive spending review, saying that charges should be ‘called into question on both ethical and efficiency grounds’.

Currently charges account for about 4 per cent of NHS income. The confederation has asked the Department of Health to review existing charges to ensure that they have ‘no deterrent effect on appropriate demand for healthcare’.