Freemium in the NHS - GP Appointments

Freemium principles have been applied in the NHS for some time now. The most obvious example is that patients can pay for a private room in a n NHS hospital. They get the same treatment as other patients but they also get more privacy. In modern business speak a 'better customer experience'.

So why not apply this principle elsewhere in the NHS. For example why not charge for the most popular GP appointment slots. This can raise serious amounts of money without adversely affecting the most vulnerable.

Supposing GP's were to charge, say £10 for appointments between 8 am and 9am.

Suppose that each GP manages to sell 3 appointments per day (on average) on each of 200 working days. Given that there are about 30,000 GPs in the country that gives an annual revenue of about £180m.

That's about 0.1% of annual government spending or £1 in every £1000.

Not much, I know but it's not that difficult to implement.