Putting costs on paitents will turn them away - GP clinics

Checkpoint

"We're reaching a crisis point now, I can see a lot of harm coming," that's the message from some GP clinics desperately trying to avoid closing their doors or putting up prices for patients. GPs had their funding increased by 4 percent in July - and were given the greenlight to lift their fees by more than 7 percent. But some clinics, whose margins are already thin, say putting the cost on the patient will simply turn them away. In the latest installment of our Crunching the Numbers series, Louise Ternouth looks at how much it can cost to see the GP - and the difficult choices both patients and clinics are having to make.