The National Health Service provides most health care to most people free of charge, but there are exceptions: prescription charges still exist in England 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, e.g. dental fees. In other cases it is because the service is not covered by the NHS, e.g. medical reports for insurance companies, claim forms for referral for private care, letters and forms which require the doctor to review the patient’s medical records, etc.
Examples of non-NHS services are:
- Certain travel vaccinations
- Private medical insurance reports
- Holiday cancellation claim forms
Why do we need to charge?
Non-NHS work takes our staff away form their normal NHS roles and adds extra hours to their day. Please remember that there are many steps and staff members involved in the process from your request for work to be done to the completed work returning to you. The time taken to do these tasks is often underestimated. A simple letter or form will take a route through the organisation involving up to 5 members of staff (reception -> clinician -> scanner -> accounts -> back to reception).
I only need the doctor’s signature!
When doctors sign a certificate or complete a report, it is a condition of remaining on the Medical Register that they only sign what they know to be true. Therefore, in order to complete even the simplest of forms, the doctor needs to check the patient’s medical record. Carelessness or an inaccurate report can have serious consequences for the doctor, with the General Medical Council or even the Police. The charge reflects either the time required to check information and/or the degree of responsibility in signing the document.
Sending documents to your GP
| FEES FOR FORMS, MEDICALS and PRIVATE WORK NB: We do not sign PASSPORTS | FEE |
| Adoption (patient paying) Does not include investigative tests – additional costs set by pathology lab | £73.86 (£82.29) |
| Advance Decision/Living Will | £35 |
| ARU – Camp America If no examination needed | £50 £25 |
| ARU – Medical Declaration | £20 |
| Character reference | £35 |
| Children’s TV/Entertainment disclaimer E.g. for job / shotgun licence | £20 |
| FORMS | |
| Bus pass | £5 |
| Simple form requiring doctor’s signature | £20 |
| Fit to travel / fly / exercise; holiday insurance / firearm renewal/ cancellation forms; Power of Attorney etc. | £35 |
| Medical examination needed – single apt | £65 |
| Medical examination needed – double apt | £130 |
| Assessment of capacity form | £80 |
| Ofsted Health Declaration form | £80 |
| MEDICAL REPORTS | |
| Extract from records – no examination | £60 |
| Report on pro-forma – no examination | £80 |
| Detailed written report – no examination | £100 |
| Medical examination + report (20 mins / 40 mins appointment) | £130 / £160 |
| Taxi / HGV medical exam + report | £150 |
| Pacemaker – removal from deceased patient | £70 |
| PRIVATE Consultation with a doctor / nurse Private ECG……………………………………………………… Private prescription…………………………………………. Private sick note……………………………………………… Private telephone consultation………………………… | £65 / £40 £80 £18 £26 £28 £5 |
| To whom it may concern letter Students | £35 £15 |
| Confirmation of address letter Students NB: We do not sign PASSPORTS | £35 £15 |
* Please note – our fees are based on the BMA guidance on what to charge for private medical reports, forms, letters, certificates etc. Please see https://www.bma.org.uk