Healthcare. Is this he thin edge of the wedge?

Tax the wealthier more and give the NHS more - the systems are already in place to do that - problem solved.

Urmstongran

Actually my care under my GP surgery has been exemplary. But my question isn’t about that per se. It’s about charging some patients ‘deemed wealthy’ to plug a hole in funding.

How would you deem who is wealthy? If somebody comes in as an emergency, would you expect them to bring their bank account details with them?

Actually my care under my GP surgery has been exemplary. But my question isn’t about that per se. It’s about charging some patients ‘deemed wealthy’ to plug a hole in funding.

I really don’t ‘go searching’ paddyanne! It popped up now as a strap line on my iPad.

I didn’t even use the Saltire in the topic line, nor put a photo of NS in my post.

I don’t want it to be an inflammatory topic. It was a genuine question.

I agree with you Franbern. There's already a two-tier health system in place.

I can see all sorts of problems with means-testing and charging people for hospital stays. For a start, it would involve increasing admin staff - the much maligned "pen pushers".

IMO it would be more efficient and fairer to tax (including NICs) people for healthcare, according to their means.

I'm glad it wasn't a serious suggestion, but worrying that somebody thought it was even worth floating as an idea.

URM You must go searching for anti Scottish govt stuff.
I'm a member of SNP ,get all the current or preliminary discussion on actions to be taken and I haven't heard of this.On the contrary I did hear the FM saying/promising that the NHS would always be available for all here .
The Scottish NHS figures are the best in the UK .unless you read the unionist press.Staff are better paid ,eye and dental checks are Free ,catching all sorts of illness that could be serious and cost a fortune IF they went undiscovered simply because folk couldn't afford them .
Our budget has been cut by 5 BILLION but the nurses received an offer of between 5.4% and 11.1 in recent negotiations ...thats after the 3% they were awarded last year .
Please pay attention to the MESS your government is making of the WHOLE UK .Believe me from what I hear from relatives from Southport to Devon things are much much worse down there .
A wee ps,I saw my GP last week ,by the time I had left the surgery she had organised a brain scan later the same day ,she has called me every day since to check my BP figures and I'm seeing her again tomorrow .Is YOUR nhs better than that ?

Urmstongran

Actually not a bad idea to charge for food whilst in hospital! Even a nominal sum of £1 a day would help the coffers as in-patients would be eating at home anyway. Probably get told now it would be too bureaucratic. Seems most ideas seem to get labelled that way these days.

Not if the food is anything like I've experienced!

Last time I was in hospital my partner was sent off to the onsite M & S Simply Food to buy me something to eat. I was starving after having fasted 18 hours and there was nothing on the menu I could eat.

It appears as if this meeting was some sort of Think Tank, whre eveery possoiible method of running a health service was onthe table. This idea was justone of themanyohters - but f course,is the one the media have picked up. It has been confirmed that it was not aserious idea.

Think there is already a trwo tier system of Hezlth Care in place with the richer jumping queues for oerations and non urgent treatment through private medicine and the plebs being pushed tothe back of queues. Of course, anythng that goes 'wrong' with those private ops, are then sorted out by the NHS.

It has long been that if you are any sort of benefit and in hospital for any length of time, your benefits are stopped,

Actually not a bad idea to charge for food whilst in hospital! Even a nominal sum of £1 a day would help the coffers as in-patients would be eating at home anyway. Probably get told now it would be too bureaucratic. Seems most ideas seem to get labelled that way these days.

I've long thought that those who can afford it should pay for their 'bed and board' when in hospital. Not at 5* hotel rates, of course, but it would help offset the overall cost.

As you say Blossoming, how will they define 'wealthy'?

I wonder what their definition of ‘wealthy’ will be?

I’m probably being a cynical old bat, but the peasants will most likely be stuck with substandard care at rundown clinics.