How much for a doctors letter?

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  • suki1964
    suki1964 Posts: 14,313
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    Nicki wrote: »
    But you can choose only to buy your clothes in a charity shop or Tesco instead at a much cheaper rate. With a doctor's letter, only a doctor can do it (and in many cases only a GP at the surgery you are registered with). As it is a monopoly situation, the charges should reflect the fact that those on benefits or very low incomes may need a discretionary fee.

    Sorry but its very rare that anyone actually pays hard cash to the GP as in 99% of the work that Gps charge for is covered by insurance. I know we never paid for our Gp to fill out our forms for our mortgage applications, I know we never paid for the medical I had to have for the mortgage company - they paid for it all.

    People seeing a private Gp usually have private insurance or have the money to go private

    The forms that are needed to safe guard our work (sick forms) are issued free.(at source)

    Prescriptions are issued free (at source)

    Any queries from the DWP are dealt with free (at source)

    Its a rare occasion that a NHS patient needs to pay for a letter/signature from their GP
  • Nicki
    Nicki Posts: 8,166 Forumite
    Just to clarify, I have no problem paying the charge a doctor levies for a letter which doesn't fall under his NHS duties (either financially or in principle). The point I was making was in relation to the person on state benefits who needs a signature from his doctor to prove he is unfit to drive, for which the doctor propose charging 1/3 of his weekly income. IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES my view is that the doctor should waive or reduce his fee (or that the benefits agency should pay it for him) as there is no one else the person can go to for this signature.

    As a former solicitor myself, I am aware that solicitors charge more to write a letter, but they don't have a monopoly situation. You can choose to go to solicitor A who might charge £75 or solicitor B who proposes charging £150 for the same letter. And if you are in dire financial straits, you can apply for legal aid, attend a free drop-in legal advice centre, or find a solicitor prepared to do it for free, or on a contingency fee basis. None of these apply to the doctor situation.
  • LondonDiva
    LondonDiva Posts: 3,011
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    Nicki wrote: »
    As a former solicitor myself, I am aware that solicitors charge more to write a letter, but they don't have a monopoly situation. You can choose to go to solicitor A who might charge £75 or solicitor B who proposes charging £150 for the same letter. And if you are in dire financial straits, you can apply for legal aid, attend a free drop-in legal advice centre, or find a solicitor prepared to do it for free, or on a contingency fee basis. None of these apply to the doctor situation.
    Actually, neither is the GP. What's stopping anyone shopping round?????

    The patient could get a copy of his/her records and go to another practice and ask them to complete the required form/information. That practice is likely to charge as it is private work NOT reimursed by the NHS. You could then shop around (like you would with a solicitor or a plumber) to get a cheaper deal.

    However, it is convininent for the patient which is what you have to put up with if you don't want to shop round.

    If they don't have to do it, why should they offer their time for free? Like anything people have been getting for free, it's not appreciated. I dare anyone to go to a commissioner of oaths needing a form done and demanding the fee be waived - see how far you get! pay for it

    @funguy
    funguy wrote:
    I think people just dont realise how much the cost of a 10 minute GP appointment actually is. I think the figure is around £15 in the NHS and £25 privately in the UK although private appointments tend to be 20mins long and cost about £50. Less than half this cost is actually the GP cost - the rest being building/staff/heating etc etc...
    Then the prescription which costs a set NHS Fee can cost the NHS more than 10 times that amount so all in all we get a pretty good deal most of the time.
    The cost of a GP appointment in France and Sweden is approximately £15 - £20 for 10mins.
    Last costing I saw (about 2006?) The cost of a 10 minute GP appointment was put at £30
    "This is a forum - not a support group. We do not "owe" anyone unconditional acceptance of their opinions."
  • SandC
    SandC Posts: 3,929
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    Gosh I feel quite lucky then, I needed a letter for the gym to tell them I was fit to exercise (raised blood pressure - probably through lack of exercise, ha ha). The nurse did one for me, so long as they got something on surgery head paper they were happy with that.

    I realise that's not the same as filling in a form but the OP was only talking about a letter, wasn't he?
  • SandC
    SandC Posts: 3,929
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    Also, there are some places which use their discretion over things like this which are outside of the remit of something which occurs in a doctor's appointment. Maybe the answer is to make an appointment and the GP would be more likely to do it then and there no charge applicable.

    A different scenario but a public service at the same time. Our directors had to have finger prints taken to send overseas for summat or other. 2 of them went together to the local police station, got some fingerprints done, came back. The other one went on his own a week or so later and was charged £66 for it. All depends who is standing on the front desk at the time I reckon and whether it's something that requires paperwork or it's too much faff to do so (I noted the one who didn't charge was an older guy who had probably been in the force for donkey's years and probably didn't have much time for things like that - when you think of yet more paperwork involved in receiving a cheque or processing a credit card).
  • suki1964
    suki1964 Posts: 14,313
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    Nicki wrote: »
    Just to clarify, I have no problem paying the charge a doctor levies for a letter which doesn't fall under his NHS duties (either financially or in principle). The point I was making was in relation to the person on state benefits who needs a signature from his doctor to prove he is unfit to drive, for which the doctor propose charging 1/3 of his weekly income. IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES my view is that the doctor should waive or reduce his fee (or that the benefits agency should pay it for him) as there is no one else the person can go to for this signature.

    As a former solicitor myself, I am aware that solicitors charge more to write a letter, but they don't have a monopoly situation. You can choose to go to solicitor A who might charge £75 or solicitor B who proposes charging £150 for the same letter. And if you are in dire financial straits, you can apply for legal aid, attend a free drop-in legal advice centre, or find a solicitor prepared to do it for free, or on a contingency fee basis. None of these apply to the doctor situation.


    Because it is a benefits agency form their should be no charge from your GP at all
  • Cardamom
    Cardamom Posts: 127 Forumite
    SandC wrote: »
    Gosh I feel quite lucky then, I needed a letter for the gym to tell them I was fit to exercise (raised blood pressure - probably through lack of exercise, ha ha). The nurse did one for me, so long as they got something on surgery head paper they were happy with that.

    I realise that's not the same as filling in a form but the OP was only talking about a letter, wasn't he?


    Yes, the original poster was only asking how much you all pay for letters but it seems this thread has gone off topic somewhat. OP is a she lol.
  • Glamazon
    Glamazon Posts: 8,401 Forumite
    It went off topic because these things always do. You also said you were thinking of changing surgeries (althou you have had other problems) which indicated you were unhappy with the charge hence the debate.

    DWP forms are paid for by the Government as are Blue Badge disabled forms, fitness to drive should be requested by DVLA so the fee would be less anyway.

    My earlier post gives some examples of what we charge people for

    fit to travel, perform, holiday cancellation forms, army medicals, private sick notes, shotgun licenses

    None of these are required and if you can't pay for it then you can't get a license. A private sick note is £10 for people off less than 7 days - this is often given so that people can prove they were sick to get paid by employer. If you've cancelled a £500 holiday, what's £30 to prove you were ill to get your money back?
    There was a period when drama clubs and schools went all Health & Safety and wanted GP letters to say kids were well enough to perform in the Christmas play - can you imagine how much time this takes looking thru records and writing letters?
    A very busy Yummy Mummy to a 1 year old gorgeous boy :smileyhea

    Where does the time go? :think:
  • sillyvixen
    sillyvixen Posts: 3,612
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    my father has just taken a medical examination to pursue his hobby (he fires steam trains on a welsh narrow gauge railway - tourist attraction) the 20 min appointment to fulfill the medical and fill in the form cost £90. my dad was happy to pay this as all drivers and firemen have to take the test under new regulations and there are some he feels are not safe to continue! my father sees himself as fit to do the task and would hate to continue if otherwise - this has given him piece of mind that he is safe to carry on. just because people like him give their own free time to offer this service is no reason to not regulate there duties. he feels it is a small price to pay to continue his hobby which has given him so much pleasure since his early retirement. he has been with the railway since his college days but was only able to take a firemans course upon early retirement.

    i could not believe that a 20 min appointment and the filling in of the form within the time cost that amount - but better safe than sorry where passenger health and safty is concerned!
    Dogs return to eat their vomit, just as fools repeat their foolishness. There is no more hope for a fool than for someone who says, "i am really clever!"
  • I'll ask, as I don't think I would get a sensible answer by asking at the Doctor's surgery (going on previous experience).

    I have a form that requires my Doctor to sign to say that I have a disability that causes difficulty in walking, which he is already aware of. It's not a benefits related form as such, but simply one to obtain a bus pass on disability grounds that is issued by the local council.

    I am unemployed and receive no benefits. My wife works and we qualified for a HC2, help with health costs, certificate due to the low joint income. I struggle to get to my Doctor's surgery and should really catch two buses to get there, but cannot afford to, so get off the first and walk, with difficulty.

    How do I explain this to get the form signed? I cannot afford to pay for a signature at £20+. I am 52 years old and have COPD, which has become much worse since stopping smoking almost 2 years ago. I used to be able to walk to the Doctors from home in 25 minutes, now I am force to catch the bus, hence needing the bus pass, and it actually takes me longer overall as I have to keep stopping to get my breath back after getting off the bus.

    Glamazon said that "DWP forms are paid for by the Government as are Blue Badge disabled forms, fitness to drive should be requested by DVLA so the fee would be less anyway." - I see this as a similar type of form as I am simply asking to be recognised as being disabled.

    Perhaps I should write all this down and send it as 'patient confidential' to my GP?
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