text: NHS finances are so dire that patients could soon be forced to pay to use basic services such as GPs, doctors leaders warned last night. Dr Mark Porter, head of the British Medical Association, the doctors’ union, said that whoever wins the election will inevitably be tempted to bring in charges. All three major parties have denied there will be any end to the principle that the NHS should be free at the point of use. Dr Mark Porter, head of the British Medical Association, the doctors’ union, said that whoever wins the election will inevitably be tempted to bring in charges . Critics will say that if GPs had not enjoyed such enormous pay rises over the past decade, there would be much more money around. In an interview with the Guardian, Dr Porter said of the parties fighting the election: ‘I think they will be tempted. They said in 1950 that a Labour government wouldn’t introduce charging and it did.’ The introduction of prescription charges prompted NHS founder Nye Bevan to resign from Clement Attlee’s government in April 1951. Dr Porter said it was ‘inescapable’ that the next government would consider introducing fees as a way of tackling the £30billion budget gap that NHS England has forecast will open by 2020 unless it achieves its target of £22billion in efficiency savings and receives £8billion of extra annual funding. He said: ‘Could a future government be tempted? Yes, they could, but they must resist that temptation.’ Critics will say that if GPs had not enjoyed such enormous pay rises over the past decade, there would be much more money around .
target: Dr Mark Porter said election winner will be tempted to bring in charges .
  NHS England forecast a £30bn budget gap  by 2020 unless savings made .