Doctors charged me for bus pass

stevemLS

cliffandsue wrote: »

I have never had the need or inclination to ask the GP for copies of my medical file or even write a letter/sign a form. Logic dictates that whatever a GP does outside of his normal duties, should be paid for at the going rate based on the time lost to the practice when having to do this signing/reporting. If we were to ask our window cleaner to clean out the gutters as he already has his ladders against the wall do you think that he would do it for nothing?
As for copies of the medical files, I have had reason to telephone the surgery this morning to find out what the cost would be. I was quoted £50 to view them plus an extra 20p for every sheet of paper that has to be copied if I wanted to take copies away with me.

You need to refer your practice to Regulation 6(2) of this SI http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/191/made their fees are unlawful.

tomtontom

stevemLS wrote: »

You need to refer your practice to Regulation 6(2) of this SI http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/191/made their fees are unlawful.

It's andyandflo, probably made it up ...

stevemLS

They of the handbag fame, living the dream on benefits?

(Suckered - and thought I was being helpful :T)

HOWMUCH

GP's can charge for any work that does not come under the cover of the NHS. Some GP's adjust payment to their patients ability to pay.

Mrs_Ryan

My GP was very good- there's usually a £40 charge but she did it for free as she was of the opinion that my mental health would be improved significantly by being able to get out as I couldn't afford to previously.

gayleygoo

I saw a sign in my doctor's surgery saying there is a £10 fee for signing forms, passports applications, writing letters etc. I think there were a lot of people taking up doctors' time with such things, rather than medical issues. £40 sounds very expensive but I think £10 sounds about right. It might take 5 or 10 minutes to check and sign a form, write a short letter, or fill out an application. That's still 5 or 10 minutes taken away from actual doctoring, so I don't mind that the surgery asks for recompense.

Indie_Kid

gayleygoo wrote: »

I saw a sign in my doctor's surgery saying there is a £10 fee for signing forms, passports applications, writing letters etc. I think there were a lot of people taking up doctors' time with such things, rather than medical issues. £40 sounds very expensive but I think £10 sounds about right. It might take 5 or 10 minutes to check and sign a form, write a short letter, or fill out an application. That's still 5 or 10 minutes taken away from actual doctoring, so I don't mind that the surgery asks for recompense.

My old surgery had a sign up too. It depended on what you needed to how much they asked for.

WYSPECIAL

maryjune wrote: »

Doctors charged me £10 for them to fill out my disabled bus pass form. I was surprised at this, feel its not very fair on people who are getting a benefit.

Presumably the price was mentioned before they did the work and you chose to use them?

cliffandsue

Whilst I find that the charges are too high, I can understand why they do it.
The same goes for having to have your photo signed when applying for a passport or driving licence. Not everybody is authorised to sign them. I would imagine that, much like GP's, they too will charge a fee.