ATOS Medical Services

puppy999

Now am I right that this is a services for people on Benefits ??
So why if you cant attend and need a Doctors letter for them to pay you a home visit that you have to pay £15/20 ???
All doctors well in most of Lancs you have to pay for a letter my friend is house bound having problems with her council tax she cant afford to put her heating on so were can she find £15/20 for a letter
I know most place's rip you off but ripping people on Benefits off is a JOKE

Horseunderwater

Your GP should not charge you for a letter like that. Or do you mean ATOS are charging you? They should not either. Mine has never charged me. When I was going through assessment phase, she supplied long dated Fit notes (sick), which I sent in and those stated my illness and related problems on it. But different GP surgeries may have policies and charges to different to mine.

MUMZ2BEE

My GP wont do me a letter of any kind to take to the benefit medical!!

Heycock

It's entirely up to the GP. Some will do them for free if the relationship goes back a long way but don't count on it. Gp's are just as mercenary as any other so-called professional. £40 for a two second signature on a PC generated pro-forma is not unusual.
Some GP's keep their hands clean from the dirty process by giving responsibility to "Practice Managers" who of course are "only doing their job".:mad:

Dunroamin

Writing letters like this isn't covered by the NHS so it's perfectly reasonable for a GP to charge for a private service.

LunaLady

Its a private service - why shouldnt the GP charge?

Mine charged me £15 to sign my sons school care plan. Its a pain but you have to suck it up I am afraid.

Heycock

Reasonable to charge beyond a doubt but is the charge itself reasonable? £15 should be the maximum but my GP charges between £25 and £150 for a signature depending on what it's for...he doesn't actually do anything for it. £25 minimum for two seconds work. £750 a minute. Reasonable I suppose.

miduck

Heycock wrote: »

Reasonable to charge beyond a doubt but is the charge itself reasonable? £15 should be the maximum but my GP charges between £25 and £150 for a signature depending on what it's for...he doesn't actually do anything for it. £25 minimum for two seconds work. £750 a minute. Reasonable I suppose.

Are you sure it only takes two seconds? I would be very concerned if a GP was signing a form without reading it and verifying the information was correct!

Heycock

How about signing a two monthly renewable sicknote for a known condition for a known patient and charging £25 a time. Required to get a small amount of medical insurance. Insurance paying £30 a month...£60 every 2 months less £25. No need to check any records...just a signature. Reasonable?
How about £150 to sign POA forms...again known patient, known condition. No need to check any records. Reasonable?
As it happens, in the latter case, no need for a doctor to do it...legally anyone who knows the donor can do it but few realise that. They think it has to be a medico.

Been with the practice since birth...rarely been in there myself. I'm a very profitable patient for them. Apart from 2 pregnancies my wife has hardly ever been through their doors in the 35 years SHE'S been registered with them. The practice has made a fortune from the NHS over the years from our registrations.

So they charge us a fortune for the admin bits not actually covered by the NHS. Why?.....because they can. Yeh, reasonable.

miduck

Heycock wrote: »

How about signing a two monthly renewable sicknote for a known condition for a known patient and charging £25 a time. Required to get a small amount of medical insurance. Insurance paying £30 a month...£60 every 2 months less £25. No need to check any records...just a signature. Reasonable?
How about £150 to sign POA forms...again known patient, known condition. No need to check any records. Reasonable?
As it happens, in the latter case, no need for a doctor to do it...legally anyone who knows the donor can do it but few realise that. They think it has to be a medico.

Been with the practice since birth...rarely been in there myself. I'm a very profitable patient for them. Apart from 2 pregnancies my wife has hardly ever been through their doors in the 35 years SHE'S been registered with them. The practice has made a fortune from the NHS over the years from our registrations.

So they charge us a fortune for the admin bits not actually covered by the NHS. Why?.....because they can. Yeh, reasonable.

As already stated, a doctor should not be signing anything without verifying their information first, irrespective of whether they have signed an equivalent form some months before. Your only complaint would be if they are not doing this.

Heycock

Well, maybe if it was something subject to change or even possible improvement, something like sciatica for instance, then the hardup GP might want to check. Or not.
But Alzheimers? In a 56 year old he's known for 35 years? And was a neighbour a long time ago? If he needs to check his notes he should be put out to the long grass.