GP charging for blue badge letter - disabled child

I think she is coming across as exhausted and frustrated by the constant fight and battle it is for her and her child

https://www.scope.org.uk/campaigns/extra-costs/disability-price-tag-2023

please could some of the rampant ableism in this thread be counteracted
please read this and understand the huge cost implications that people face when they have disabilities
And no disability benefits don't touch the sides
And yes having a disability bring a huge cost penalty

You shouldn’t be shocked. It’s an additional ask on top of all the clinical work the GP has to do in their very busy day. It’s time consuming.

Completely normal. A GP is contracted to provide healthcare, not write letters.
This has been a standard charge for decades.

I also think there’s plenty of empathy. But many, like I, do not accept that shock at not getting something for free is reasonable.

Consultants don’t details of all the appointments that have occurred in a gp surgery.

I a look so think that people kg e need to change their mindset regarding gps. Ie. No longer thinking it as

gp = nhs

But think of it it as

gp = nhs services (healthcare) + non nhs services (letters, insurance Information etc)

Consultants

By that logic, some people with disabilities should not get any help at all as no NHS treatment will cure them.

@C8H10N4O2 Your posts didn’t make it clear you knew what the actual rules were. If you knew that it is strange you posted “each with their own set of rules” when that absolutely isn’t the case.

I do this day in, day out; of course I have come across LAs acting unlawfully . That doesn’t change the rules, that doesn’t mean each area has ‘their own set of rules’ or that people can’t challenge unlawful decisions. It doesn’t have to take ‘years’ to challenge a blue badge refusal when the person is automatically entitled to a blue badge and has unlawfully been refused.

I know very well what the rules say.

I’m describing what has actually happened where I have been involved in the application processes in two different areas.

Have you seriously never come across cases where LAs pull ever trick in the book to delay expenditure in sectors such as disability, SEN, care etc? They know what the rules are and don’t care that tribunals will overturn decisions as not legally valid. They also know that every few months or years of delay saves £££.

It's still people needing stuff done and the NHS not going it. Ironically the person waiting for the knee could continue working once it's fixed and paying back into the system whereas the child has a much longer time before working.

Sticking no boots in. There's obviously not enough money to do everything so it's got to be prioritised. Surely the fact that someone can have an op then be back to a contributing member of society within months should take priority

Our GP practice don’t charge for letters/admin stuff for children.
Does your son receive DLA? I know every authority is different but where I am, getting the higher rate of DLA (or PIP for adults) automatically entitles you to a blue badge.

I think that is not the main reason- the costs of running a GP practice (staff, building maintenance, utilities, equipment and disposable equipment) has risen very substantially over the years, along with increasing demands due to higher population/increasing elderly population/ patients surviving with more complex needs and secondary care being stretched so passing things on to the community services. Combine all of this with under resourcing of community services (including social care) and the end result workload is massive. Yet the funding the practices receive has not increased in line with escalating costs- most GP’s earn comparatively less than they did 20 years ago, when inflation/escalating living costs are taken into account. There are a relatively small number of gp’s who have taken on management of a number of practices as a business model who earn substantially more- but they are really not the norm (despite what the papers would say).

Additionally, there are simply so many more requests for reports/forms to be filled in etc that doing them all for nothing is simply not an option- some practices do many 100’s of these every month- not charging for them would mean gp’s working for many unpaid hours per week, as well as paying the admin/secretaries time. At a time where workloads are high and finances are tight within practices, that is not an option.

I expect this is because many people are not aware of how GPs operate etc.

Like other pps have said, it’s outside of a GP’s clinical work so it is chargeable. I required a letter from my GP previously - I was charged £30. It is reasonable.

Don’t forget you may need to pay the council for the badge also. Ours charges 20 quid and defends that by saying it stops people falsely claiming a badge.

Laughing at the “DLA pays for it” comments. DLA doesn’t even touch the sides of what we’ve spent on disability related stuff for our daughter over the years.

Oh they most certainly have been nasty. The OP asked a simple question, was given an answer and accepted it. And then in came everyone else swooping with the comments about "that is what benefits are for" like usual. And I didn't say sympathy - I said empathy. It is really hard to get your head around the maze of who does what and how disability entitlements work, and that is before you factor in struggling with a loved person who isn't coping with the world around them, a society that seems to delight in claiming that disablity is a "racket" and all the rest. Five pages in (and I won't be reading the next pages because it will just be more of the same) and there are still "it’s still work for the GP and why should it be free" comments. Many people don't know about or understand the relationship between GP's and the NHS. That doesn't make them stupid.

@PrimoPiatti that isn’t the case for PIP. Someone eligible for enhanced mobility by scoring 12 points in the planning and following a journey activity does not automatically qualify for a blue badge in England. See the link I posted in a pp.

There are specific situations where individuals automatically qualify for a Blue Badge due to their mobility challenges. Those who receive the higher rate of the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) due to limitations in walking or planning and following journeys are automatically eligible and need no letter form GP. HTH