NHS centre suspends £25 charge after anger


by Sunny Hundal    
12:49 pm - July 20th 2012

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We reported last week that a NHS walk-in centre in Sheffield was to start charging £25 for treatment.

The story not only drew criticism from local councillors, but also sparked outrage online and led to a protest by Sheffield Save Our NHS at the centre.

The private company has now buckled under pressure and says it is dropping the controversial charge for treating whiplash patients.

The Postcode Gazette reports:

An NHS spokesman said: “In Sheffield we believe that healthcare should be free at the point of delivery for all our patients.”

Meanwhile, it has also emerged that the Accident and Emergency department at the Northern General Hospital does not operate any charging policy for whiplash. One Medicare runs the walk-in centre service on a contract awarded by NHS Sheffield that runs up to 2016.

The highly controversial charge was also criticised in the Commons Labour’s shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham.

Labour MP for Sheffield Central, Paul Blomfield, also said the policy was, “breaking the fundamental principle of the NHS”.

A much-needed victory for all the people who tweeted about this story, the politicians who raised this in Parliament, and the organisers of Sheffield Save Our NHS.

(hat-tip @KevinPMeagher for the story)

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About the author
Sunny Hundal is editor of LC. Also: on Twitter, at Pickled Politics and Guardian CIF.
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Reader comments


1. Joanne

Our NHS should be free at the point of use. Why should we pay twice? We already pay for our health treatment through our tax and national insurance. Glad they dropped the extortion practice at the drop-in-centre.

2. Max

1. Doesn’t the NHS charge for RTA’s under the road traffic act, but charges insurance companies? This is included in the costs of the accident and will impact either the recharge to the customer (under the excess) or impact policy price next time round.

3. Chaise Guevara

“Our NHS should be free at the point of use. Why should we pay twice?”

You don’t pay twice. If it’s free at the point of use then presumably the money comes from somewhere else, i.e. tax. I agree that the charge was wrong but it’s not like the NHS is a private firm double-charging you for profit.

4. Bob B

Shouldn’t we be worrying rather more about news reports such as this?

A mother-to-be got a prickly surprise when a surgical pin from an operation three years ago emerged from her bump. Kelly Donegan watched as the point poked through her skin just inches away from her unborn baby.

‘It must have been inside me since 2009, when I had my appendix removed,’ she said.
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/905725-mother-to-be-has-unpleasant-surprise-as-pin-pops-out-of-pregnancy-bump

5. Keith

I’m more concerned about the use of the word ‘suspend’ which suggests to me that they’ve been noticed by the press, and thus decided to hold back on the plan …for now.

Soon as the upset over the idea fades, wouldn’t suprise me to see it sneakily pushed forward again.

A bit like the SOPA act got knocked back by public pressure, and so they just revised it, renamed it and put it forward again.

Seems we can’t stop this lot doing what they want, only slow them down.

Who’d have thought even ten years ago that the NHS would ever be at risk? I’ve always felt it was just one of those constants that was too important to see disappear in my lifetime.

Then we voted in a bunch of crooks who realised that only the poor need the NHS, libraries, free education, good public services, a decent, honest police force, etc, and who gives a shit about the poor? They don’t donate to party funds, after all.

6. Robert

I love the way labour now forgets it’s own history, Blair suggested that charging for Gp’s appointments would stop people from failing to turn up, he said £35 would be a fair price, I and many others wrote to labour I have to see my GP sometime four or five times a month, due to illness.

But I suspect the Tories are looking back at new labour to find policies.


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Sue Leam

    Pvt.healthcare walk in center Sheffield buckles under pressure+drop £25 fee after sparked outrage on line http://t.co/l30jxUIo via @libcon

  2. Marian Jervis

    Pvt.healthcare walk in center Sheffield buckles under pressure+drop £25 fee after sparked outrage on line http://t.co/l30jxUIo via @libcon

  3. w jones

    Pvt.healthcare walk in center Sheffield buckles under pressure+drop £25 fee after sparked outrage on line http://t.co/l30jxUIo via @libcon

  4. Jerry Hall

    Victory! NHS walk-in centre suspends £25 charge for patients after online outrage http://t.co/FMIlHSl0 (ht @KevinPMeagher)

  5. Ravi Subramanian

    NHS centre suspends £25 charge after anger http://t.co/zLBacHC7 < the private contractor should never have proposed the fee

  6. Sue Gladman

    NHS centre suspends £25 charge after anger http://t.co/zLBacHC7 < the private contractor should never have proposed the fee

  7. John Broggio

    NHS centre suspends £25 charge after anger http://t.co/zLBacHC7 < the private contractor should never have proposed the fee

  8. Steve Elsey

    NHS centre suspends £25 charge after anger http://t.co/zLBacHC7 < the private contractor should never have proposed the fee

  9. Unison Cov & StCross

    NHS centre suspends £25 charge after anger http://t.co/zLBacHC7 < the private contractor should never have proposed the fee

  10. Gateshead Unison

    NHS centre suspends £25 charge after anger http://t.co/zLBacHC7 < the private contractor should never have proposed the fee

  11. Marat1789

    NHS centre suspends £25 charge after anger http://t.co/dTtXXV1g

  12. Les Tricoteuses

    NHS centre suspends £25 charge after anger online and in Parliament http://t.co/d4BrxZXM

  13. Anthony Adshead

    NHS centre suspends £25 charge after anger | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/yK60vfuy via @libcon

  14. Trev Burnip

    NHS centre suspends £25 charge after anger | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/4YhiGaiD via @libcon

  15. Miss MaggieMagic

    MUCH more of this charging style thing to come http://t.co/g8PdkHF7 #nhsdeath





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