I have never cancelled a doctors appointment in my life and I don’t know anyone who just doesn’t show up.
If people miss an appointment perhaps they could be put on a black list and have to leave a deposit before they can see a doctor in case of future lapses.
Brother was telling me today, received a letter day before his birthday. Saturday, and arrangements made with his wife’s families, for celebrations, for an appt ON his birthday. She phoned the hospital, in London, to explain they wanted another appt. They ummed and ahhhed, said maybe they would phone back. But instead he got a letter to say as he didn’t attend his appt, he has been referred back to his GP.
Reckons he doesn’t know what it is for but I think I have persuaded him to call and rebook.
And the reason they want to try and get £10 from us is because we are an easy target.
In my area…if you fail to attend, or even cancel an appoint 3 times in any length of time you have been with the surgery - be it 1 year or 20 years, fail to attend 3 times, and you are removed from their lists and have to go and find another doctor. 
It is amazing how many people do not show up for medical appointments and do not let the GP Surgery or hospital know they will not be attending.
Where my partner lives, in an urban area in the North West, the electronic message boards in the GP Surgery waiting room shows how many missed appointments there has been in the last month - it is in the hundreds every month! - and that is just one surgery serving a small area.
I don’t know if people make appointments, then feel better and don’t attend - they can’t all just forget, surely.
It is very annoying to people who have to wait days for an appointment because the GPS and Nurses have already got appointments booked in for people who just don’t turn up. His GP surgery send out several Text Reminders on the run up to the Appointment Date.
I don’t think the problem is so acute in my little Yorkshire village - we may have a lot of elderly folk who are getting forgetful but we are a considerate bunch and most of us wouldn’t just not bother turning up for appointment without letting the surgery know beforehand. Anyway, my GP surgery sends me a couple of Text Reminders about my appointments so even if I forget to put it in my diary, I get a Reminder.
I think maybe a small fine for not showing up or cancelling may be a good idea to help to stop the inconsiderate people taking the health services for granted and not bothering to keep Appointments they make.
I would want to see the fine details first before giving whole-hearted approval - e.g. as the GP and hospital has access to all the patients health records, I would expect them to exempt folk who have mental health issues / dementia or other health issues which may have stopped them remembering the appointment.
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Not the same thing though is it … how do you prove someone was incapable through drunkenness. If they’re spewing up in A&E on a Saturday night that’s different, easy to establish and charge for.
And what happens if someone refuses to pay the fine?
Do they get struck off their GP’s lists?
The more I read this thread and think about it the more I see it as a cheap vote winner by Sunak. It’s unworkable.
I’d much prefer he chased up health tourists , or even better the 4.9 billion lost on fraudulent covid business loans.
If he can’t be bothered to do it himself, appoint a private company on a commission basis of 20% and the retrieved money could go straight to the NHS.
A few billion quid cash injection should help give it a new lease of life.
But a £10 fine isn’t going to change a druggy or alkey’s lifestyle or make them attend next time? And they probably won’t pay it and taking them to court pointless, if they don’t have any dosh?
I just think it’s a glib easy vote catcher that won’t solve the problem which will cost more in admin than cash it brings in
And there should be a proper look into why people don’t attend and try to base solutions on that.
And looking into the effectiveness of other methods of encouraging attendance.
Proper grown up solution seeking, not quick fixes to win votes that won’t work
Doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.
It’s not a thing you can put a price on. Those that waste NHS time, without a valid excuse, should go to the back of the line.
It was GP and hospital appointments. Your hospital may be hundreds of miles away.
Well considering their treatments usually run in to many thousands, they should be trying harder to find them. try getting medical treatment abroad without insurance and see how far you get! They ask for your credit card before they treat you.
My friend’s Mum went on holiday to Canada and broke her leg. Even though she was in extreme pain and distress the hospital refused to do anything until they had contacted her daughter in the UK and she emailed the insurance certificate over to them to prove she was covered!
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Poor woman! I do think that’s a bit harsh to be honest…but yes I agree that we should have a similar hard stance. If you can’t pay, go away. 
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It’s not harsh, it’s their rules. most countries, other than us are the same.
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Hang on, you Pommies get free treatment in Australia as part of a reciprocal agreement between Medicare and the NHS, now you want to do away with it?
I must admit I did enjoy that someone (not you) can manage to introduce boat people into a discussion about doctor’s appointments, What next? Brexit and NHS appointments?
That’s a load of rubbish cobbled together by people pointing a finger in the air. GPs aren’t paid per appointment, they are paid based on list sizes and extra bits they offer such as vaccination, health checks etc. They will be paid whether they see patients or not. If they cancel an appointment do the patients get paid £10? A joke.
Of course patients should try their best not to miss appointments but this £10 idea is policy on the hoof by someone who has no clue on how complicated it would be to implement. Of course those with dementia as pointed out, those with mental health conditions, those with learning difficulties, those who have no money and no way to pay and maybe aren’t even able to go get to a surgery because they are too ill would be the ones most affected and a big headache for the surgery to collect. Just more stress for overworked reception staff. Who will pocket the tenners? The GPs (private organisations)? Will they have to employ debt collectors and bailiffs?
Far more money would be saved if they took time to clean up GP lists of patients that had moved, died, changed practice.
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My uncle often doesn’t cancel his appointments with the GP if he’s not going
One reason for no shows is people who book “just in case appointments”
He’s very elderly and knows his conditions might need help. And because it’s so hard to book appointments, sometimes a two or three week wait, he books one anyway, even if he’s not too bad at the time, because he thinks he might need it and it gives him a sense of security that he’ll be able to see someone if he needs to
And then if he gets to the appointment day, if he’s feeling OK, he doesn’t go
He says he doesn’t cancel the appointment because it’s so hard to get through to his surgery on the phone (true, it is)
And because he says the doctors get paid anyway and as you only get a 10 minute appointment, it just means some other poor so and so won’t be kept hanging around for so long in the waiting room, because you’re never seen at the time of your appointment anyway
If we have a mutual agreement with some countries then surely we could use their hospital/health number to identify them & before we give treatment. Otherwise, they need to give details of their insurance, which can also be verified.
I can remember a time when we all had health insurance to visit other countries, because if you need care it should not be up to the country you visit , to cover the cost!
I think this discussion is probably moot anyway - looking at the way the leadership contest is going, it is unlikely Rishi will get the PM job, so these pledges he is making for if becomes PM are unlikely to come to fruition.
I do think the number of people not turning up for appointments is a problem that is wasting a lot of consultation time and depriving other people waiting for appointments from taking those slots.
I cannot see the connection between this topic and the comments about health tourism - they are two separate issues.
That happened to me once, when I had an appointment with a nurse. They said that they had sent me a text , but they sent it to a number that I had asked them not to use, as I rarely charge my mobile.
Amazingly, they managed to squeeze me in as it was only for a dressing change on a wound ! The surgery are as equally obliged to keep the appointment, as they expect us to be, but where there has been an emergency at the surgery I am sure we would all be happy to accept a new appointment in the next couple of days!
A load of Cobblers ! I beg to differ many GPS now work as locums
They are indeed paid per appointment.
I would imagine the fine is to serve as a deterrent not with expectation of a Collection money making scheme , indeed the cost £10 wouldn’t cover the cost of issuing fine let alone collection
Why would you cancel or miss an appointment when they’re so hard to get?
I have however been reprimanded for missing an appointment though it was mistaken and I actually turned up … the Deity that guards the desk ( read receptionist) simply made a mistake which luckily I could prove…
How’s that scenario going to work out if they’re charging tenners … I’d like to charge them a tenner for every ten minutes an appointment ran over the appointment time… I’d be quids in.
Luckily I accept that some people need more help and appreciate that appointment times can wander but to solely blame the public for appointment chaos is a little hypocritical
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I very much doubt the proposed fine system isn’t pacifically being aimed at druggies and drunks or the incapable.
It’s unlikely this group are the biggest offenders when it comes to missed appointments.
More likely it’s our neighbours people shop in Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s etc who can’t be bothered or forget to cancel a GP appointment, imo Its more likely to be Gp missed appointment s due to time lag between phoning to make another appointment and the actual visit … as theres a high chance recovery has taken place naturally.
Whilst hospital appointments are for the more serious or for long-term persistent medical ailments .
Received by post that includes a phone number.
As for your suggestion non-payment of fines could lead to exclusion from GP services …I can’t believe that is behind Sunak thinking. It’s nonsensical.
A fine would be more a deterrent not a get rich quick scheme for the NHS, indeed a £10 fine would not cover the cost of a missed appointment let alone issuing the fine.
As for your preferred approach clamping down on abuse of the NHS by overseas visitors I would hope that both missed appointments and abuse of the NHS by visitors to U.K. are given equal consideration by the government