Labor blast Tories' 'hidden NHS agenda' as Rishi Sunak promises £10 missed appointment fine

Tory leadership hopeful Rishi Sunak has pledged to fight 'waste' if he enters No 10, with a plan to charge £10 to patients for not showing up for appointments after first offence

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£10 fines for Rishi Sunak's GP are 'just a little word', says doctor

Labour has accused the Tories of trying to 'erode' the principle of keeping the NHS free at the point of use after Rishi Sunak pledged to charge patients for missed appointments.

Tory management hopeful Mr Sunak has pledged to tackle 'waste' if he enters No 10, with a plan to charge patients £10 for appointments" second or subsequent" at the GP or outpatient they miss - after a first offence.

The idea would be temporary while the NHS battles to clear the Covid backlog, which reached 6.6 million in May according to NHS England.

But the move has been criticized by NHS leaders, who said it could hurt the poorest and most vulnerable, and increase bureaucracy for overwhelmed doctors.

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting has accused the Tories of wanting to expand user charges in the health service, in a move 'they dare not say out loud'.

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Mr. Streeting made the comments in response to calls from journalist Rachel Johnson, sister of the Prime Minister who left the Tories for the Lib Dems, to be fined £30 for missing appointments and fined £25 for go to A&E.

Rishi Sunak suggested charging patients for missed appointments (

Picture:

Getty Images)

The Labor leader tweeted: 'It's the Conservatives' agenda for the NHS they dare not say out loud: expand user charging, gradually erode the Bevan principle of free to the point of use.

"On my corpse."

Mr. Sunak is struggling to catch up in the Conservative leadership race, with polls putting his rival Liz Truss ahead of Conservative members.

In an interview with the Telegraph, he said it was 'not fair' for patients not to show up for consultations, scans and check-ups, 'taking those slots away from people who need them ".

Around 15 million appointments are missed in doctors' surgeries a year in England, while 8 million outpatient appointments (6%) were also missed in 2019/20, according to Mr Sunak's campaign .