The Prime Minister has scrapped plans to issue a £10 fine to patients who miss GP and hospital appointments.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has backtracked on his plans to issue a £10 fine to patients who fail to attend their GP and hospital appointments.He initially made the pledge during this summer's race to leadership, where he was beaten by Liz Truss.Sunak explained his reasoning for the pledge, stating that it was "not right" that patients were failing to attend their appointments when the slots could have gone to those in need.A spokesperson from No 10 has informed that the decision to drop the plans was made after "listening to GPs" and acknowledging that "now is not the time to take this policy forward".The spokesperson added that the prime minister is keen to deliver "a stronger NHS and the sentiment remains that people should not be missing their appointments and taking up NHS time".

Sceptics of the idea, including the British Medical Association (BMA) have suggested Rishi's plans could "make matters worse", as well as contradict the NHS's commitment to free health care.When discussing the policy in July, Sunak explained that patients would be given the "benefit of the doubt" on their first offence, but would pay the £10 fine after further absences.Sunak also assured that fines would be waived in exceptional circumstances, such as emergencies.

The prime minister also assured that the plan would only be temporary, during a time when there is still a backlog of appointments due to Covid-19.

Expanding on the plans, Sunak expressed "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."

From June 2021 to June 2022, 14.3 million GP appointments were missed in the UK. In January 2019, 15 million missed appointments were reported, which were estimated to cost the NHS £216m.