GP CALLS FOR AN END TO FREE PRESCRIPTIONS TO HELP IMPROVE THE HEALTH SERVICE

A GP has said survey results showing dissatisfaction with the NHS are “a pleasant surprise” and he hopes it will bring about reform.

Speaking on GB News, Dr Laurence Gerlis said: “[The survey results] are a pleasant surprise, because it makes a change from banging saucepans on a Thursday evening.

“I think the public has caught up with reality that we’ve known for a long time and I think this may herald a change.

“But I don’t think we’re going to see dramatic change, because in this country, you can’t do anything radical, unfortunately.

“Let me say at this stage, I think the idea of a health service, free at the point of use, is admirable and something I support. And the vast majority of the people working in the NHS are good, hard-working people. There’s no malice in them.

“But the system is huge. The NHS is a country within a country, and you can’t really change it. And I don’t have any confidence that any form of part privatisation could ever be accepted in this country.

“We’re just going to watch the managed decline of the health service over the next 20 years and partly that’s a public fault, because of unreasonable expectation and demand.

“I’m not a political person but the sheer numbers of people using the health service is up.

“20 years ago the average person saw their GP three times a year, now it’s ten times a year.

“I just think people rush to the doctor every five minutes.

“One of my jobs, I get to look at the health service records of relatively young people in their 20s to screen them for a programme and I’m horrified by the number of consultations these people have.

“We seem to run to the doctor all the time and I do really think that needs to be addressed, that our expectations are so high.

“The French system would be a good one, where you pay 30% of the total costs and the government pays 70% and you can use insurance to get the rest back, but there’s a barrier to entry, and that would make a difference.

“Let me give you a simple solution, so simple that it won’t be tried. If we got rid of all prescription charges at £10 per item but replaced it with a simple one or two pounds by item, with no exemptions whatsoever, you would see a dramatic decrease in demand.

“At the moment, 90% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge, and doctors are happy to prescribe paracetamol to patients because they feel sorry for them. That takes up the doctor’s time and wastes health service money and medicine cabinets are full of unused drugs.”