London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Rishi Sunak backtracks on £10 missed NHS appointment fines

Rishi Sunak backtracks on £10 missed NHS appointment fines

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has scrapped a Tory leadership campaign pledge he made to fine patients in England £10 if they miss GP or hospital appointments.

He made the pledge during this summer's leadership contest against Liz Truss.

Mr Sunak had argued it was "not right" some patients were failing to turn up, taking slots from those in need.

But a No 10 spokeswoman said that, after "listening to GPs", the government decided it was "not the right time" for the policy.

She added that Mr Sunak wanted to deliver "a stronger NHS and the sentiment remains that people should not be missing their appointments and taking up NHS time".

Critics of the proposal included doctors' union the British Medical Association (BMA), which said it would "make matters worse" and threaten the NHS's principle of free care at the point of need.

The BMA welcomed the decision to scrap the plan and said it "cannot be brought back to the table later down the line".

It said "punishing" patients was not the answer to the many reasons people miss appointments, and the policy would "only deter the most vulnerable from seeking the help they need, worsen health inequalities, and ultimately undermine the essential trust between doctor and patient".

Instead, the BMA said the government must work to improve pay and other conditions to ensure the NHS has safe levels of staff.

Reflecting a similar view, the Royal College of GPs said the plans would have disadvantaged some of the NHS's most vulnerable patients.

Chairman of the college Prof Martin Marshall said the move would "simply have been tinkering at the edges given the scale of the crisis facing GPs and our teams".

Outlining the policy in July, Mr Sunak said patients would be given the "benefit of the doubt" the first time they missed an appointment without providing sufficient notice, but further absences would incur a £10 charge.

Fines would also be waived in exceptional circumstances, such as if a patient had an emergency.

He explained the system would be "temporary" as backlogs caused by the pandemic were cleared.

But he gave few details of the how the system would work, writing in the Sunday Telegraph: "If we have people who are now showing up and taking those slots away from people who need [them], that's not right.

"I'm all for a healthcare system that's free at the point of use, but not one that's free at the point of misuse."

Asked if other pledges on the NHS made during the summer leadership campaign still stood, she said Mr Sunak's "initial ideas" over summer would be discussed with cabinet ministers and any announcements would be "set out in due course".

Mr Sunak had also pledged to eliminate one-year waiting times by September 2024, and get the number of people waiting for non-urgent treatment in England falling by next year.

He pledged to do this by boosting the number of "diagnostic hubs" outside hospitals, including by repurposing empty High Street shops. He also pledged to reform dentists' NHS contract, and ring fence the annual £3bn NHS dentistry budget.

The decision came as Mr Sunak met patients and staff at Croydon University Hospital in his first visit as prime minister.

A patient was filmed telling the prime minister he needed to "try harder" to pay NHS staff more.

Mr Sunak replied "he would take that away" following the exchange.

During the summer the Conservative Party membership chose Ms Truss over Mr Sunak, but this week he succeeded her by winning enough nominations from Tory MPs on Monday following her resignation.


WATCH: Catherine Poole, aged 77, tells Rishi Sunak NHS staff should be paid more


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×