Whilst I agree with many of the points re waste, especially non-attendance at appointments, prescription items, etc, etc, I sometimes feel a little suspicious when these issues are brought up on TV and social media. There is such a thing as the "nudge" agenda, whereby people's opinions are deliberately swayed towards a specific view on a particular subject.
I believe one of the methods used by the "nudge" theory is to draw people's attention to the behaviour and opinions of others in any given situation because most people tend, subconsciously, to adopt social norms. For instance, it was found that if hotels which put up notices asking guests to think of re-using their towels in order to save the environment, it did change people's behaviour. But such a notice was made much more effective by telling them that other guests in the hotel reused their towels. Neither approach was as effective as telling them that other guests in that exact room reused their towels. It seems that people like to feel that their opinions and behaviours are broadly in line with that of other people.
It could be said that if this "nudge" principle is a good thing because it is not dictatorial but it does point people in the right direction - i.e. to be more socially responsible.
But my view is it can be used to manipulate people for less altruistic reasons. On the Jeremy Vine programme this morning, panellists discussed the use of waste within the NHS, with particular reference to non-attendance at appointments. The general feeling was that those who made appointments but didn't attend them should be "fined", or that a patient should pay an amount upfront which would be returned if the appointment was kept, but retained if it was not.
Non-attendance is a fairly significant problem and I expect many people would feel that some sort of measures should be adopted to prevent this happening so regularly.
However, the discussion quickly morphed into the subject of paying a figure of between £10 and £25 for each GP appointment. The figures from a poll were provided, saying that something like 40% of the people asked agreed with this idea. It was just one poll, and viewers will have had no idea how this survey was constructed - who and how many people were asked, how questions were framed, etc, etc. It could be argued that the "nudge" principle was being used to mould public opinion in the direction of seeing payment, on top of general taxation, for certain NHS services as desirable. This could be the foundation for a complete reversal of the whole ethos behind our present health system.