Most of the services offered by the surgery are free under the NHS. But some services are not covered under the NHS and for those your GP, like other professionals, can charge a fee.
The Doctors are able to complete medical reports and insurance forms, perform medicals such as pre-employment and HGV and provide other services which do not form part of their NHS work. All work of this type is subject to a fee. The fee will reflect both the doctor’s time to carry out the service and the doctor’s professional opinion. It may also include the cost of secretarial support and stationery. We are increasingly receiving requests for private letters, medical reports, insurance forms etc which are completed by the doctor only for the patient to decide that they no longer require their letter etc. In this instance the patient will still be expected to pay the required fee to reflect the time expended by the doctor in this regard.
This work is not undertaken during routine appointments and we would therefore request that all enquires with regard to work of this nature are made at reception. Time spent completing forms and preparing reports takes the doctor away from the medical care of his or her patients. Most doctors have a heavy work load and paperwork takes an increasing amount of their time, so doctors have to undertake this work in their own time in evening or weekends. When a Doctor signs a certificate or completes a report, it is important that they only sign what they know to be true. In order to complete even the simplest of forms the doctor may have to check the patient’s entire medical record. Please therefore allow a period up to four weeks for your report, form, etc to be processed.
The fees charged are published and available from Reception and below in a word document format. The fees are in line with British Medical Association recommendation where this applies.
Please note that we only able to accept card or cash for payment.
If you require further information please contact the practice and choose option 5.
