Most of the services offered by the surgery are free under the NHS. But some services are not covered under the NHS and for those your GP, like other professionals, can charge a fee. Examples include the following:
- Medicals for pre-employment, sports and driving requirements.
- Insurance claim forms
- Letters for taking medication abroad
- Private sick notes
- Vaccination certificates
The fee will reflect both the doctor's time to carry out the service and the doctor's professional opinion. It may also include the cost of secretarial support and stationary.
This work is not undertaken during routine appointments and we would request that all enquiries with regard to work of this nature are made at reception. Time spent completing forms and preparing reports takes the doctor away from the medical care of his or her patients. Most doctors have a heavy work load and paperwork takes an increasing amount of their time, so doctors have to undertake this work in their own time in evening or weekends. When a Doctor signs a certificate or completes a report, it is important that they only sign what they know to be true. In order to complete even the simplest of forms the doctor may have to check the patient's entire medical record. Please therefore allow up to 40 days for your report, form etc to be processed, we have member of our Administrative team who looks after all such requests to ensure they are completed on time.
The fees charged are based on the British Medical Association (BMA) suggested scales, and are available from reception. Please note that we are only able to accept cash or cheques for payment.