Some services provided are not covered by the NHS and therefore attract charges. These charges may be required to be paid up front by cash or cheque (we cannot accept cards); our reception team will advise at the time your request is made.
You may be asked to attend the surgery for a medical examination as part of your request, examples of this include TAXI & HGV Medicals. Once your interest has been expressed, your name will be added to our waiting list and you will be contacted as soon as an appointment with the GP becomes available.
The fees charged are based on the British Medical Association (BMA) suggested scales. Please see following document.
Private Services Fees for Non-nhs services
When you require a more specific letter with regards to certain diagnosis and treatments or forms to be completed, these requests come under the remit of our Private Services and are not covered by a simple SAR request; these services are not covered under by the NHS and therefore attract charges. These charges are sometimes required to be paid up front upon receipt of your request; our secretarial team will advise you when they contact you about your request.
The Practice does not supply 'To Whom It May Concern' letters of support for patients requesting health information, proof of diagnosis, condition affecting life, environmental etc for any organisations, for example:
A computer printout of diagnosis, medication, hospital clinic letters, consultations can be provided free of charge to patients to assist with completion of forms.
Patients should advise any company or organisation requesting reports or supporting letters to write to the GP Practice directly.
Reports NOT completed by the Practice
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 (the doctors’ regulatory body) or even the Police.
Patients' paper notes are not kept at the surgery and need to be requested and then despatched to us by the medical records service. The timeframe for this is out of our hands and can take some time, but the doctor must wait for these before completing the form.
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.
Not all documents need a 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. Read the information that comes with these types of forms carefully before requesting your GP to complete them.