Interesting Facts

According to Government data, a single 11.7 minute trip to a GP costs the NHS £45. (The 2013 Health and Social Care report from the Personal Social Services Research Unit states: It costs £27 for a 7.1 minute telephone consultation with a GP. Home visits from a GP lasting 23.4 minutes cost the NHS £114. One prescription from your GP costs £41.35, including the cost of the drug. A 15 minute appointment with your nurse in a GP practice costs £13. Cheap at half the price. The NHS is one of the things Britain should be most proud of.)

Around two-thirds of Western countries charge patients to see their GP, fees range from 80p in France to £18 in Sweden, with an extra £5 for a home visit.  In the UK it is currently free (see below). (In some countries patients pay for hospital visits or stays, including Germany, and Sweden where they charge around £7.50 per night, and in Portugal you also have to pay £8 every time you go to A&E. According to a poll conducted by Pulse magazine, half of British GPs are in favour of charging patients for appointments - with some wanting to impose fees of between £5 and £25 a time. The problem is that it puts people off seeking medical help. Germany introduced a similar GP charge, but they later scrapped it.) We've been talking about this in the forum .

According to the Office for National Statistics, the average Brit visits their GP (general practitioner or doctor to you and me) 5 times a year. (I reckon they're lucky to get an appointment.  According to the Patients Association, 60 per cent of patients have to wait two days before they can get an appointment. 1 in 10 have to wait for 2 weeks!)