BETTER-OFF patients may have to pay a fee to see a GP and have minor surgical procedures to help save the ailing NHS, a Tory veteran says.
Ex-Chancellor Lord Clarke says the current crisis means the wealthy could have to make a contribution with the health service under huge pressure.
GettyBetter-off patients may have to pay a fee to see a GP and have minor surgical procedures to help save the ailing NHS, a Tory veteran says[/caption]
PA:Press AssociationEx-Chancellor Lord Clarke says the current crisis means the wealthy could have to make a financial contribution[/caption]
The move would go against the founding principle of the NHS which is free at the point of delivery for all users but it would be means-tested.
He said the public can’t demand European standards of service but continue to pay below their levels of taxation.
Clarke, who served as Health Secretary under Margaret Thatcher, said: “As health demands of the population, an aging population, get ever higher, and more expensive, it’s taking up an ever-increasing amount of GDP.
“We may have to look at some means of making the better off patients making some modest contribution to their healthcare.”
The peer told Times Radio it should be “respectable to discuss” a range of ways of raising cash for the NHS and it may now be the right time for discussing “modest” fees.
He said previously he would be “ferociously” opposed to any such move.