Should you be fined for missing a GP appointment?
It’s thought that £162 million is lost each year through missed GP appointments.
A poll of more than 500 UK people found that nearly 70% were willing to accept a fine of up to £10 for a missed GP appointment. The average GP appointment costs the NHS an estimated £18.
Just 29% of respondents said they would not be prepared to pay anything for a missed appointment.
In addition, research suggests there are 23 percent fewer missed appointments if patients are sent a text message reminding them of their appointment.
What are your views?
Would you ever miss a doctors appointment without notifying your GP surgery? Do you receive a text from your GP reminding you of a pending appointment? Would you be prepared to pay a fine for a missed appointment?
Should you be fined for missing a GP appointment?
306 people have already voted, what's your opinion? Yes - I think a fine is acceptable No - I don't think a fine is reasonableWhat are your views?
We'd love to hear your comments
Log in to comment
You need to be logged in to interact with Silversurfers. Please use the button below if you already have an account.
LoginNot a member?
You need to be a member to interact with Silversurfers. Joining is free and simple to do. Click the button below to join today!
JoinCommunity Terms & Conditions
Content standards
These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to our site (contributions), and to any interactive services associated with it.
You must comply with the spirit of the following standards as well as the letter. The standards apply to each part of any contribution as well as to its whole.
Contributions must:
be accurate (where they state facts); be genuinely held (where they state opinions); and comply with applicable law in the UK and in any country from which they are posted.
Contributions must not:
contain any material which is defamatory of any person; or contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory; or promote sexually explicit material; or promote violence; promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age; or infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person; or be likely to deceive any person; or be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence; or promote any illegal activity; or be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety; or be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person; or be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person; or give the impression that they emanate from us, if this is not the case; or advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.
Nurturing a safe environment
Our Silversurfers community is designed to foster friendships, based on trust, honesty, integrity and loyalty and is underpinned by these values.
We don't tolerate swearing, and reserve the right to remove any posts which we feel may offend others... let's keep it friendly!
I believe GP's are paid for their services, however many patients they see, - or am I incorrect?
When you book, you are given a particular time and then sometimes wait over an hour to see the doctor. So NO.
So, like Gloria Estefan's bread knife, it cuts both ways!
They wouldn't do it again, would they?
The only way to make people aware that they have missed an appointment would be to levy a fine.
Given that in a lot of cases people have to wait a week or more to see their own Dr. it's just not right that some people on the appointment list just don't bother to cancel so, someone who needs to see their Dr. could maybe see their Dr. sooner.