To think GPs shouldn’t charge for these letters?

The national health service doesn't cover providing you with travel letters. You're either saying your GP should work for free or the collective pot should fund you commissioning letters to airlines. Fuck that.

I was told by the rheumatology department that the external company can do these sort of letters for you.

No it sounds like meds for an autoimmune disease or other disease to me. I take them and need a letter.

It’s the needles you need a letter for. I need one when flying.

DH has a weekly injection for rheumatoid arthritis that’s delivered from an external company and needs to be kept in the fridge. We have travelled many times with it in an ice travel pack but have never been questioned.

When we went to Australia the cabin staff offered to keep it in the plane’s fridge on each flight until we landed.

I think you should be fine but for peace of mind could you carry a letter from consultant, or something from nhs app which lists your medication?

I had to get a letter to take opiate painkillers to Turkey (as well as taking a hard copy of the prescription). My GP charged £20 which seemed a reasonable amount. However, from my job, I know GP’s can set their own fees for letters outside NHS work so I think you’re stuck with the charge.

My GP doesn’t… the receptionist tries. GP writes “no charge” on anything we need.

I do understand your irritation about this, but you only need this because you are travelling/ going on holiday. So I feel it’s right you bear that cost. The alternative is not free, it's only free to you! Tax payers actually pay for it in that scenario. If a GP is doing this within the NHS contract then that displaces, frankly, needed proper care for patients. That is much more important and a priority as I see for my taxes paid.

I always used to get a copy of my prescription along with my injections from the hospital pharmacy, but they have gone to a completely paperless system now. I just get a bag of injections with sticky labels on them. No prescription.
I can print a copy of my consultant's letter from the app (not my nhs app, that doesn't have access to hospital letters) but from the Trust's own app and hope that is sufficient. I never bothered before when I got the prescrition sheet.
There seems to be so much variation between Post codes/ Trusts/ GPs it is no wonder people get stressed.
Just as an aside, I attend the eye clinic in the same Trust. Their computer system is completely separate from the rest of the Trust and they almost never send a clinic letter to me or the gp. I am going to have a hell of a job renewing my driving licence next year.

No, I think GPs should charge for this kind of thing.
The NHS is on its knees and people are always commenting that fat people shouldn't get treatment, and neither should smokers, or alcoholics.
We shouldn't be able to request a GP spend time on these sorts of letters without payment to it for the NHS.

There is no earthly reason why it needs to take up GP time. It's 2025, this kind of standard form letter or prescription list should be downloadable from records using any modern business system.

Of course that would require willingness to use modern business systems, not a strength in our healthcare systems.

GP don't like to write letter for patients. The service I work for will provide letter like this for free. Can you approach your secondary care team?

a consultant’s secretary is easy to reach, they can sort out a letter for you

@Lostare Contact the provider that sends it out to you. Use the option that's urgent, eg, running out, so they answer the call.
Explain the situation, and any urgency, eg, if youre flying soon, and ask for a letter confirming dosage and name of meds, etc, and any relevant info eg, if it can't go through xray machines.
I had to do this a few years ago and it took abt 2 weeks to get the letter, but it was free, and I now just keep it with my travel cool bag ready for the next trip.

Good luck

So this sounds just like Mounjaro/wegovy? Have travelled with that many times without a letter (though the prescribers are usually happy to email a proforma letter at no charge). No one has ever asked to see the letter in the last 2-3 years when I’ve travelled in Europe.

@Lostare have you tried asking the GP receptionist to print off a prescription for the medication in question , or if it comes from a hospital consultant originally ask his secretary to send you something . I take injectables everywhere ( steroid emergency kit) and never have any bother if I carry a prescription or steroid card .

It’s not about that.

You wouldn’t be getting a medication from the NHS without a prescription. But either way, a letter to confirm what the medication is for isn’t under the GP’s NHS contract. So you either want them to write it on NHS time and take money from the taxpayer, or do it for free? They need to view your records, find the correct information, review your request and write the letter. Why should they do that for free?

Unfortunately, they are private providers, even though their only contract is with the public health service. A private provider will always look to increase revenue any way possible. No, I don't think it should be like this, particularly when so many people cannot get even a basic service. If we're going to be private, we should be open about it and have a set charging structure and SLAs.

firstly, GP’s are not employees of the nhs.

most gp practices are private businesses that take on nhs contract work. They are like dentists - some dentists are private only, some are nhs only and some are a mix - a common mix is nhs for children and private only for adults.

if your dentist does private for adults and nhs for children, you would not expect him to treat you under the nhs just because he treats your children for free.

it is the same with GPs.

they used to do a lot of stuff that was not included in the nhs contract for free, out of goodwill. These days they are so busy on nhs work that work that is not included in the nhs contract is charged for, and usually at a very high rate as they do not want to do it.

you can’t get holiday vaccinations for free. You have to pay. In the same way, you cannot get this letter for free. You have to pay.
going on holiday is not considered a core part of looking after your health and if you want to travel it comes with costs.

I don't think you need a letter. Take the medication in its packaging with the prescription label on it, and as back up if you do not feel this is enough, take one of your hospital letters about your condition.

I take daily mercaptopurine, which is a controlled drug, for an autoimmune condition and I have never had any problems taking it with me on holiday. I always take my meds (i'm on loads) in my hand luggage because I can't risk be without it if my baggage goes astray and I have never once been asked about it. You will be fine. Enjoy your holiday.

That’s not the point though is it?
GPs are overwhelmed and are not obliged to take time out of their day to provide a letter as you chose to go abroad on holiday. They essentially run businesses and have to cover their overheads
This should absolutely not be part of the NHS- and funded by tax payers- anymore than paying for your travel insurance should be.

£55 may seem a lot but- someone has to type the letter, pay for the paper, cover the time the GP has to dictate it, look at your notes and confirm dose etc, paper/envelope/stamp, tax I could go on.
Not to mention the fact it’s not necessarily about the time to do it but the qualifications needed to get there.

You sound extremely entitled. Ever thought how much your monoclonal is costing the taxpayer????

Even if you don’t get a prescription as such, if it’s provided under NHS care it will be on your medical summary sheet. The only way it wouldn’t be is if it was a private medication. So just ask the receptionist to print out your summary (we use EMIS but I’m not sure of this is used in all GPs)

There are thousands of patients on these medicines in the UK. Taxes dont cover the cost of writing letters. They barely cover the cost of delivering core services. This is private work and GPs are expensively trained professionals. £55 is frankly cheaper than it should be for their time and expertise. Similarly, Consultants are expensive and shouldn't be doing it for free either. I think people need to be aware of what their NHS covers and what it doesnt. If you want it to cover travel letters - lobby to pay more taxes!

We have to take epi pens in our hand luggage, we were also quoted £55 for a letter, but our GP said that an official copy of the prescription would suffice and printed that out for free.

In the end security at the airport couldn’t have been less interested. This year we didn’t bother, we just left them in the original packaging with the prescription labels on. Again, no one was interested. They remained in the hand luggage as they went through the scanner and I’m not sure if anyone was any the wiser.

Is it labelled with your name etc by the pharmacy/company who prescribed it?