Sajid Javid’s plans to charge NHS patients slammed by readers

Former Health Secretary Sajid Javid has claimed NHS patients should be charged for attending GP appointments and Accident and Emergency departments. He said that “extending the contributory principle” could help improve the “unsustainable” healthcare system. However, a new Express.co.uk poll has found 82 per cent of readers do not support his idea.

In an opinion piece for The Times, the Tory MP said he wanted a “grown-up, hard-headed conversation” about the NHS. He said that “too often the appreciation for the NHS has become a religious fervour and a barrier to reform”.

He continued: “We should look, on a cross-party basis, at extending the contributory principle. This conversation will not be easy, but it can help the NHS ration its finite supply more effectively.”

He has proposed enforcing means-tested fees for patients to “protect those on low incomes” and highlighted Ireland, Norway and Sweden as possible models to replicate.

Ireland has a “nominal” €75 (£66) fee for attending an injury unit without a referral, while GP appointments cost the equivalent of £20 in Norway and Sweden.

Downing Street said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is not “currently” considering the suggestion. During his Tory leadership campaign, Mr Sunak proposed a £10 fine for patients who miss NHS GP or hospital appointments but withdrew the pledge after criticism.

READ MORE: Sajid Javid says patients should pay for A&E

In a poll that ran from 5:30pm on Tuesday, January 24, to 11:30am on Thursday, January 26, Express.co.uk asked readers: “Should NHS patients be charged for GP appointments and hospital visits?”

Overall, 1,337 people responded with 82 per cent (1,098 people) answering “no” the NHS should not charge patients.

Whereas 17 per cent (222 people) said “yes” in support of patients contributing, and a further one per cent (17 people) said they did not know either way.

In the comments left below the accompanying article, readers shared their thoughts on the NHS.

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said earlier this month that he wants to reform the NHS to make it “so good that people never have to go private”.

He explained that Labour plans to use the private sector as a short-term measure to help clear waiting list backlogs.

He told The Guardian: “Of course, investment is needed in the NHS, but ask any patient about their miserable experiences and it’s partly about culture and systems. That’s got to change too.

“My mission is to make sure the NHS Labour built 75 years ago, publicly funded, free at the point of need, survives the next 75 with those core principles intact.”