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LBC’s Nick Ferrari suggests limiting people to 12 GP appointments a year before being charged

LBC’s Nick Ferrari suggests limiting people to 12 GP appointments a year before being charged

Like some weird calendar of capitalism, LBC presenter Nick Ferrari has come under fire for his “radical” proposal to limit people’s GP appointments to 12 a year before paying a fee.

Mr Ferrari, who hosts the weekday morning programme on the radio station, suggested the plan after saying NHS staff are “bouncing on the bottom” because of coronavirus cases.

“It is time for radical action, and today, I propose to you that you all have 12 appointments per annum, okay, which obviously works out at one a month. After that, you will be charged.

“Unless it is a desparately serious case such as cancer, whatever, and obviously that means all bets are off, you go into a different bracket.

“But if you constantly come along and say, ‘I’ve got a bump on my bottom’ or, ‘I’ve got earache’ or, I don’t know, ‘I don’t feel well, I don’t think I can go to work’, whatever it might be – the myriad of complaints that confront those poor men and women, the army of GPs – you’ll effectively get one a month free, after which you’ll be charged somewhere in the order [of] probably about £50-60,” he said.

The fee wouldn’t be means-tested, Mr Ferrari added, and if an individual doesn’t attend an appointment, it would count towards three of the 12 appointments and the individual would be slapped with a £100 fine.

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“Unless you call and say, ‘I’m stuck in traffic’ or whatever, ‘I had a cheese and wine party at Number 10 and I just can’t get away ‘cause we’re all in suits’, then you will be permitted, but if you don’t, you’ll be fined £100 and you’ll go down to nine a year.

“That’s my plan,” he concluded.

Except, to many people on Twitter, it wasn’t a very good one:

Others pointed out that disabilities and chronic illnesses exist, increasing the likelihood of needing more than 12 appointments a year:

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