Non NHS Private Fees

The National Health Service provides most health care to most people free of charge, but there are exceptions: prescription charges have existed since 1951, and there are a number of other services for which fees are charged. Sometimes the charge is made to cover some of the cost of treatment, for example, dental fees; in other cases, it is because the service is not covered by the NHS, for example, medical reports for insurance companies.

It is important to understand that GPs are not employed by the NHS, they are self-employed, and they have to cover their costs – staff, buildings, heating, lighting, etc – in the same way as any small business. The NHS covers these costs for NHS work, but for non-NHS work the fee has to cover the doctor’s costs.

The Government’s contract with GPs covers medical services to NHS patients. In recent years, 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 be sure that information provided is true and accurate.

• accident/sickness insurance certificates
• certain travel vaccinations
• private medical insurance reports

We regret that we are unable to provide additional supporting letters for benefit claims.

As part of your claim, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will contact your GP or another healthcare professional to request relevant medical information from your GP records by way of a factual medical report. This report is returned directly to the DWP to support their assessment.

These reports are requested by the DWP. Any authority required for the DWP to obtain medical information is managed by the DWP as part of the benefits application process. The practice responds to requests received from the DWP and all correspondence, including any follow-up queries, is managed directly between the practice and the DWP.

The practice processes these requests in accordance with its usual administrative and GP workflow. Reports are normally completed and returned within 4 to 6 weeks, although this may take longer during periods of high clinical demand.

The factual report requested by the DWP is intended to provide the relevant medical information required to support your claim. We are therefore unable to provide separate supporting letters.

If you wish to provide additional information to the DWP in support of your claim, the practice can, where appropriate and free of charge, provide a brief summary of your medical record. Alternatively, if you require a copy of your GP records, the appropriate route is to make a Subject Access Request (SAR).

• medical reports for an insurance company
• some reports for the DSS/Benefits Agency
• examinations of local authority employees
• DS 1500 Form (Disability Living/Attendance Allowance)

The BMA suggests fees for non-NHS work which is not covered under a GP’s NHS contract, to help GPs set their own professional fees. However, these fees are guidelines only, not recommendations, and a doctor is not obliged to charge the rates suggested.

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 – the majority work up to 70 hours a week – and paperwork takes up an increasing amount of their time, so many GPs find they have to take some paperwork home at night and weekends.

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, therefore, 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 or even the Police.

The BMA recommends that GPs tell patients in advance if they will be charged, and how much. It is up to the individual doctor to decide how much to charge, but the BMA produces lists of suggested fees which many doctors use. Surgeries often have lists of fees on the waiting room wall based on these suggested fees.

• Not all documents need signature by a doctor, for example passport applications. You can ask another person in a position of trust to sign such documents free of charge.
• If you have several forms requiring completion, present them all at once and ask your GP if he or she is prepared to complete them all at once as a (job lot) at a reduced price.
• Do not expect your GP to process forms overnight. You should expect the form(s) to take up to 4 weeks for the GP to complete and return