Medical Reports, Fees and Private Referrals

The Government’s contract with GPs covers medical services to NHS patients, including the provision of ongoing medical treatment. In recent years, however, more and more organisations have been involving doctors in a whole range of non-medical work. Sometimes the only reason that GPs are asked is because they are in a position of trust in the community, or because an insurance company or employer wants to ensure that information provided to them is true and accurate.

The BMA (British Medical Association) suggest fees for non-NHS work which is not covered under GP’s NHS contract, to help GPs set their own professional fees. However, the fees are guidelines only, not recommendations, and a doctor is not obliged to charge the rates suggested. The BMA recommends that GPs tell patients and third parties in advance if they will be charged, and how much. It is up the individual doctor to decide how much to charge.

30 days (or more) process time:

Please plan ahead and factor in the time it will take the staff here to action these on top of their daily NHS workload.

Fees:

Doctors will review each request to work out how long they need to complete the report and therefore what fee to charge.

All fees must be paid in advance of work being completed and supplied.

We accept card and cash payment methods.

We reserve the right to suspend, extend processing times for private/Non NHS work at any time due to busy period

Fees

Common Questions:

Why does my GP charge for medical reports and letters?
The practice has a primary duty to provide services for the management of patients who are ill. Writing letters and reports (i.e. for insurance providers, adoption and fostering, driving (DVLA), housing and benefit appeals, schools, health clubs and employers) all falls outside of the NHS GP contract. When medical reports are provided they are a private service and as such, have to be completed in the GP’s own time outside of their paid NHS working hours. These services incur a fee.
What if I cannot afford to pay a fee?

Whilst we understand the financial pressures patients may be experiencing, we receive a high volume of these requests and set all of our fees based on the time the GP takes to complete the work, so that we are equitable to all patients and our doctors. We are not able to negotiate our rates or offer reduced prices.

Why might there be a delay before receiving my document?

Time spent completing forms and preparing reports takes the GP away from the medical care of his or her patients.

Most GPs have a very heavy workload and paperwork takes up an increasing amount of their time, so many GPs find they are already doing extra NHS paperwork on their days off, in the evenings or at weekends. The time taken to complete a form will depend on their NHS workload and how many reports or letters have been requested by other patients at that time.

I only need the doctor’s signature – what is the problem?

When a doctor signs a certificate or completes a report, it is a condition of remaining on the Medical Register that they only sign what they know to be true.

In order to complete even the simplest of forms, the doctor might have to check the patient’s entire medical record. Carelessness or an inaccurate report can have serious consequences for the doctor with the General Medical Council (the doctors’ regulatory body) or even the Police.

 

Additional Information

Patient Participation Group

Patient online access

Self-Referral Services

Health A-Z

Feedback and Reviews

Community-based Health Services

Data Protection