Some services provided are not covered under our contract with the NHS and therefore attract charges.
Further information as to why some services incur a charge (PDF, 135KB).
Examples of non-NHS services for which GPs can charge their own NHS patients are:
- Medicals for pre-employment, sports and driving requirements (HGV, PSV etc.)
- Insurance claim forms
- Prescriptions for taking medication abroad
- Private sick / fit notes
- Vaccination certificates
- Accident/sickness certificates for insurance purposes
Examples of non-NHS work for which GPs can charge other institutions are:
- Life assurance and income protection reports for insurance companies
- Reports for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
- Copies of records for solicitors
If someone asks you to get a letter from your doctor
Some organisations may ask you to get a letter from your doctor, either to confirm that you have a particular medical condition or to confirm you are suffering from specific symptoms.
Frequently, these requests come to us from patients, rather than from the organisations themselves. As a patient, you are unlikely to know exactly what the organisation needs to know, and your doctor won’t know this either. It is for this reason, that we encourage these third party organisations to contact us directly. That way, they can ask the specific questions which they need answering. This avoids confusion, avoids wasting your time and the doctor’s time and avoids you paying for a letter which contains inadequate information.
We kindly request that if someone asks you to request a letter from your GP, please give them our contact details and ask them to contact us themselves.
If you require a letter to take part in a sporting event
Sporting organisations will sometimes ask you to request a ‘medical’ from your doctor before allowing you to take part in an organised physical activity. We find that this is very common when the activity is to take place outside of the UK.
The completion of these forms is not contractual work for GPs. This means that we reserve the right to refuse to complete these forms. Reasons for refusing to complete a form include but are not limited to; contractual NHS work pressure meaning we simply don’t have the time to do additional non-contractual work, the deadline which the form needs to be completed by or the specifics of the form itself. Forms of this nature will sometimes ask the doctor to confirm that a patient is fit to do a particular activity. Stating this on a form exposes doctors to liability if, for example, the participant has a medical emergency during the event.
In most instances, we will be able to complete a form for you. However, on the rare occasions when we cannot, we will direct you to a local private organisation who can help and we will provide you with a copy of your medical records which the private organisation will need.
Fees
Download a list of our fees (DOCX, 15KB)
The fees charged are based on the British Medical Association (BMA) suggested scales and our reception staff will be happy to advise you about them along with appointment availability. Usually non-NHS work will take a maximum of 4 weeks to complete.