Health secretary says he has already taken step towards this by announcing that when people miss an appointment they are told how much it costs the NHS

The government favours the idea of charging patients who miss NHS appointments to ensure people take greater responsibility for the use of precious resources, the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has said.

But in an appearance on BBC1’s Question Time, he admitted that imposing such charges would be difficult to enforce.

Hunt said the government had taken a first step towards introducing greater responsibility for the use of resources by introducing measures to ensure that patients who miss appointments are told how much NHS money they have wasted.

However, it emerged that the health secretary misspoke as no announcement had been made and ministers and officials at the Department of Health were in fact still working on the plan.

Hunt highlighted his interest in charging patients for missed appointments in his appearance on Question Time. “We are very stretched for resources,” he said. “Doctors and nurses work incredibly hard and we are going to have a million more over-70s by the end of this parliament.

“If we are going to square the circle and have a fantastic NHS, despite all those pressures, then we have to take personal responsibility for the way that we use NHS resources. I don’t actually have a problem in principle with the idea of charging people for missed appointments. I think in practical terms it could be difficult to do.

“But I have taken a step towards that this week by announcing that when people do miss an appointment they will be told how much that has cost the NHS as a first step.”

Hunt also pointed out that the government was seeking to underline to patients the cost of NHS drugs by putting the price of some medicines on the side of packets with a note saying they were paid for by the taxpayer.

“I’ve also said that all medicines costing over £20 – we’ll put the price on the outside of the medicine pack and it will say paid for by the UK taxpayer so that people understand that. What I really hope it will do is make sure that they actually take the medicines. I think it was Hippocrates who said ‘the best doctor for your condition is yourself’. I think if people knew how much the medicines were they might be more diligent in taking the medicines on time.”

Jeremy Corbyn, a Labour leadership contender, said he disagreed with the idea of charging for missed appointments, though he said patients should “get it in the neck” if they failed to turn up.

“I don’t think it would be a very good idea. It would be very hard to collect it. There are lots of reasons people miss appointments. Some because they are lazy and can’t be bothered, sometimes because they couldn’t get there, all kinds of things.



“My own GP is very good at this. They agree the appointment, they text you, they re-text you, they phone you. If you are not there, the next time you turn up you really get it in the neck from everybody there – that’s fine. It is a publicly funded service.”

