GP wants to charge excessive fee for Medical Form

seven-day-weekend

I believe it would take at least half an hour of the doc's (out of hours) time and therefore not extortionate.

In my surgery the fees for such things are clearly stated on the notice board in the waiting room.

bumpoowee

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I believe it would take at least half an hour of the doc's (out of hours) time and therefore not extortionate.

In my surgery the fees for such things are clearly stated on the notice board in the waiting room.

If it seriously takes a GP half an hour to fill out four basic questions that they must see time and again then they clearly aren't as educated as they like to claim. Given the amount of money thrown at them I'd expect some sort of basic system (computer or otherwise) where they could obtain the required information in seconds.

DrFluffy

It's more than just writing 4 questions worth of answers and will take more than 5 minutes. Your GP will have to go though your medical records etc to get the info they need. If anything is missed or not correct on the form and it later has repercussions it'd their GMC number on the line.

There are also associated costs - their indemnity insurance, use of ptactice resources etc.

melancholly

bumpoowee wrote: »

If it seriously takes a GP half an hour to fill out four basic questions that they must see time and again then they clearly aren't as educated as they like to claim. Given the amount of money thrown at them I'd expect some sort of basic system (computer or otherwise) where they could obtain the required information in seconds.

i agree that GPs are very well paid (even overpaid in fact!) - however, saying a computer system should do this type of job instead is just daft. if it's all so easy, then go do 6 years of medical school, a couple of years in a hospital and then join a GP practice and charge what you want!

either way, what's the point in all this whinging about the cost - all i'm hearing is 'it's not fair', which doesn't help the OP at all. the cost will need to be paid in this situation. i agree it's an unfair playing field since some GPs won't charge for this, but that's an issue for PALS. since they're already involved, there's nothing else to recommend. getting all wound up about it won't make the cost go away and won't make the situation resolve!

juliescot

grandadsmith wrote: »

This must be a nice little earner,AS IF they dont 'earn' enough.
I believe this 'cost' is outrageous and a con ,to elaborate on :
Its a R I P O F F ! ! ! :mad:

Calm down or you might have to go and see your GP .;)

Not a rip off just a charge for providing a private service.
If the costs appears excessive the OP should go elsewhere.

Pont

ticket2ride wrote: »

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.

After graduating with your PGCE get a job in a school attended by your GP's children. When your GP stops you in the local supermarket to ask you how his/her kids are doing, spend 5 minutes saying 'fine in English', 'struggles a little in maths' etc. Then smile sweetly and present him/her with a bill for £59.00!

bumpoowee

melancholly wrote: »

i agree that GPs are very well paid (even overpaid in fact!) - however, saying a computer system should do this type of job instead is just daft. if it's all so easy, then go do 6 years of medical school, a couple of years in a hospital and then join a GP practice and charge what you want!

either way, what's the point in all this whinging about the cost - all i'm hearing is 'it's not fair', which doesn't help the OP at all. the cost will need to be paid in this situation. i agree it's an unfair playing field since some GPs won't charge for this, but that's an issue for PALS. since they're already involved, there's nothing else to recommend. getting all wound up about it won't make the cost go away and won't make the situation resolve!

I could very easily become a GP if I wanted, I just don't fancy a 40 year career of inspecting pensioners rectums (although I appreciate it needs to be done). I work in the technology industry, and a system as described could be very easily implemented - in fact if the NPfIT can do anything useful it is implement this sort of system.

Of course when GPs are making £60 a go for 5 minutes work they are hardly going to advocate efficiency and value for money are they?

There isn't really much the OP can do hence the lack of advice. However a greater public awareness of this scam could help bring it to an end in time.

juliescot

bumpoowee wrote: »

I could very easily become a GP if I wanted, I just don't fancy a 40 year career of inspecting pensioners rectums (although I appreciate it needs to be done). I work in the technology industry, and a system as described could be very easily implemented - in fact if the NPfIT can do anything useful it is implement this sort of system.

Of course when GPs are making £60 a go for 5 minutes work they are hardly going to advocate efficiency and value for money are they?

There isn't really much the OP can do hence the lack of advice. However a greater public awareness of this scam could help bring it to an end in time.

It may be many things but "scam" it is not.

seven-day-weekend

I really get fed up with people on these forums thinking they all know better than the professionals (Drs, Teachers, Police, Nurses etc).

Why do they have such an inflated idea of their own skills and abilities that they think they can do all these jobs without any training?

MrsManda

Just one thing which the original poster and those who think this is 'rip-off Britian' seem to have forgotten or perhaps not know.
GPs are private contractors, they do not work directly for the Primary Care Trust or any other part of the NHS. They are contracted to provide certain services by the PCT and therefore their payments are based on providing the services in the contract. Countersigning medical forms isn't included in this contract, therefore when a GP fills out a medical form, the only payment he gets for his time and other resources spent is what he chooses to charge you.
As others have posted, other professionals will charge similar or greater costs for their services. You can't judge how much something costs by simply saying it takes 5 minutes and therefore you're being charged £708 an hour. That refuses to take in to consideration: time to look up your notes - even getting on to the system and getting hold of your notes can take longer than this especially if you're requesting details from more than 5 years ago. The NHS does not have a computerised record system yet therefore it isn't a case of plugging a few search terms into the computer and bringing up what is required. Someone is likely to need to go through all your paper records to find the required details.