Dear Editor I write this letter in response to the recent survey which showed a third of general practitioners to support patient fees for ‘unnecessary’ Accident & Emergency (A&E) visits.1 The idea is that patients would be charged £5–£10 and this is refunded if doctors deemed the visit appropriate. I propose three key reasons why this charge would be impractical, unethical and dangerous.

First, A&E doctors would have to get into …