Charges for NHS treatment are on the way and will be enforced within ten years, half the public believes, The results of a new opinion poll, released as the British Medical Association meets in Edinburgh for its annual conference, show that many people are resigned to the NHS no longer being free. The BMA commissioned Hamilton Lock to canvass the opinions of 1,000 people, 93 per cent of whom said they favoured the NHS continuing to be funded by taxes.

Looking back at the past decade, 42 per cent believed that the NHS had improved, but 36 per cent did not. And 51 per cent disapproved of the Government’s policy of involving private companies in the delivery of NHS care.

“The public are clearly worried about the future funding of the health service,” said Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA Council. “It is possible that the increasing use of the commercial sector in providing NHS services in England is fuelling patients’ concerns.”

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