Health Minister Howard Quayle has warned that the current system of health care provision is 'not sustainable' and charges might have to be introduced for services that are presently free.
Asked in the House of Keys whether he planned to introduce a charge for GP appointments, Mr Quayle said, while the option of charging could be considered in a review of health services, there were increasing concerns about patients who failed to turn up for appointments.
He said: 'With regard to the actual issue of charging for GP appointments, this is an area I have not specifically looked at.
However, in my discussions with practitioners it has become apparent that there are increasing concerns about the levels of 'do not attends' for pre-booked appointments and this of course has a direct impact on the availability of doctors on a day to day basis and increases waiting times.'
Mr Quayle said that, across the health service, 'we know that the current system of provision is not sustainable and future health and social care models may need to include charging for some services which are currently free at point of use.'
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