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You and Yours: Call You and Yours: Should we pay for using the NHS?

Call You and Yours: Should we pay for using the NHS?

15/07/2014

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Call You and Yours: Should we pay for using the NHS?

Should you be paying for some NHS services, and what would you pay for?

Consumer phone-in. Should you be paying for some NHS services, and what would you pay for?

Call You and Yours: Should you be paying for some NHS services and what would you pay for? Do you think overweight people should pay for their own gastric band surgery to help with type II diabetes? Should we pay for GP appointments? What about a monthly membership fee for NHS treatment? Could we create a more efficient system or will pay-as-you-go mean that those who can afford to pay get treated and those who can't - don't?

Some say the NHS is not in good shape to deal with continuing austerity and could experience a funding crisis - not decades away - but as early as 2015. Views gathered from health and social care leaders show they believe the NHS will be in debt if it carries on giving the service it does and that within ten years, the NHS will no longer be free at the point of use. For others, a free NHS is ideological - it should remain free at the point of use, be publicly funded and be publicly accountable. Any charging for the use of the NHS above that which we already pay for as taxpayers could actually cost us more money in the long run. But has the cultural and political climate in which the NHS was conceived changed so much that it is no longer fit for purpose in its current state?

If you want to have your say you can email youandyours@ BBC.co.uk or Tweet using the hashtag you and yours.

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