GP wants to charge excessive fee for Medical Form

ticket2ride

I have just started a PGCE course which requires me to fill in a medical questionaire that is then countersigned by my GP.

The portion of the form that the doctor has to fill has a total or four questions to answer. For the privilege of doing this he wants to charge £59, which I feel is excessive.

As I understand it, they can charge what they want. I have contacted my local PCT and a Patient Liason service who have effectively confirmed this. They have said they will see what they can do but I suspect they will say they are powerless to do anything.

1) Is this correct?
2) Is there anyone else I can contact?

Thanks in advance.

dmg24

It is a private service, therefore considering private rates, it is not excessive. You could contact another private GP, but that will cost more as you will need a full consultation, whereas your GP can refer to your notes.

Swirlywurly

If there is a medical practice attached to the university, they may fill your form in for free if you register with them. I have never had to pay for forms since i've been at university luckily else I would be funding their biscuits for years!

ticket2ride

great, rip off Britain strikes again.

dmg24

ticket2ride wrote: »

great, rip off Britain strikes again.

You are asking for a private service, therefore you have to pay. Why do you think that they should do it for free?

Perhaps you should look at healthcare costs in the US, and then rethink your above statement?

The_Grandmaster

Private service means the doctor can actually put a fee he likes - including 0! Maybe take a box of chocolates and ask sweetly if he`ll cancel the fees as you`re a poor student?

olly300

The_Grandmaster wrote: »

Private service means the doctor can actually put a fee he likes - including 0! Maybe take a box of chocolates and ask sweetly if he`ll cancel the fees as you`re a poor student?

If it's a practice like most GPs that will get you no where.

Debt_Free_Chick

ticket2ride wrote: »

great, rip off Britain strikes again.

Yes, it is a rip off - unless you think that taxpayers should fund a service which the NHS is not contracted to provide.

Should the NHS just provide "any service" and hand the bill to the taxpayer?

dmg24

Is there any need for that kind of language?

It will take your GP longer than five minutes to complete your form. It will take at least fifteen minutes, which equates to an hour rate of £240, which is about right for a private medical service.

Would you expect a solicitor or accountant to provide their services for free?

dieselhead

I'm afraid I am with debt free chick here, I very much doubt that it is 5 mins work. I suspect that your doctor will have to call up your notes, read them and then answer the questions. They have trained for a long time, and are therefore able to charge a lot of money for their time. We forget when we are cushioned by the NHS how much a professional doctor costs.

I'm sure if you compare his pricing to other professions with a similar amount of training such as law, or architecture, I think you will find the charges competitive. I know for example that the architects in a practice I worked for previously charge around £160 per hour for work, and I suspect solicitors are similar.

ticket2ride

dieselhead wrote: »

I'm sure if you compare his pricing to other professions with a similar amount of training such as law, or architecture, I think you will find the charges competitive. I know for example that the architects in a practice I worked for previously charge around £160 per hour for work, and I suspect solicitors are similar.

5 mins @ £59 = £708 per hour = rip off.

thanks.