I had to pay £10 for this! Really??

[iwoulddoanything]

Can't attach pic but H needed a letter from the doctor about his condition to support an application. We had to pay £10 and the letter literally says 'I can confirm x has y, hope this helps'. Is that standard??

confirming his condition and explaining how it affects him

Is it for something like PIP? I don't think GP's commit themselves besides confirming the condition and sometimes the length of time the patient has been diagnosed with it and medication given.

I don't think you'll get any medical professional to write anything that would satisfy a PIP descriptor though.

If you're wanting something like
" Mr. Anything has arthritis predominantly in his knees and wrists therefore he cannot walk for x distance. The pain in his wrists prevents him from washing, eating unless with adapted cutlery, writing, and dressing himself."
I don't think anyone going to write anything like that for you.

Medics aren't there to witness you carrying out tasks of daily living repeatedly, so they can't comment precisely on what your condition prevents you from doing or how it affects you specifically.

You can ask for a copy of your GP medical records and you can ask at the hospital that last treated you for your Hospital Records, go through those and see if there's medical evidence in there that will support your claim.

@rainbowconfetti don't know about the whole of the benefits system but the people dealing with PIP absolutely do NOT approach a GP to ask for specific information on how someone's condition affects them.

They leave it to the claimant to find and produce medical or other evidence to back up their claims.

Not for PIP, he already gets it and it's actually not for money or benefits.

@BlankTimes

Not about how the condition affects them no, I never said (or meant) that at all.

We wanted the mobility issue mentioned (very obvious when you see H that his mobility isn't good)

It would make answering your question a LOT easier if you said what you wanted the evidence for.

Does he have a Blue Badge?
If not, apply to the Council you are under and ask for an assessment by their staff, they will assess him for you and you will have a record of how far he can walk and a fair few other mobility related things on their assessment form which you can request a copy of.

Some Councils will no longer automatically renew badges unless the badge holder receives Enhanced Rate PIP Mobility.

If you're going for PIP, then you'll be seen at a Face to Face Assessment and his mobility will be assessed there by CAPITA or ATOS. You MUST request a copy of that report as you will need that if you need to appeal because it's not accurate.

I'm not going to write more at this point as I could be wasting my time advising for something you're not doing, apart from saying if PIP is what you're going for, use the online CAB guides or join Benefits and Work for their guides and if you have FB, find your local PIP support group. It can be a very difficult system to navigate and if you are refused, appeal, appeal and appeal. Over 70% of NO decisions by DWP are turned into YES decisions at Tribunal, even with the same evidence.

Sorry OP, crossposted, just ignore me.

Bargain, I had to pay £30 for mine.

I’ve just done the same.. £15 didn’t know it was a thing.

It may depend on what you asked for.

The GP here will do a very basic letter, like you got, for £20 that basically says "X patient has Y conditions".

If you need a more detailled letter it depends on the individual GP (they'll only do it if they know you well) and it costs £60 or £85 depending on how detailed it is

I've just had to pay £50 to my GP to day I was fit and healthy to study at uni! Not happy as others on my course only had to pay £10. Just depended on your GP practice. I would not mind but I'm doing it along side my job. I am a nurse and obviously up to date with occ health etc.

And I thought it was bad that I had to pay £15 for thrush cream :(

@iwoulddoanything

Cheaper the buy the generic cream, just ask for Clotrimazole Cream in the pharmacy and the tablet is called Fluconazole. Much cheaper than canisten and is exactly the same.

^

Sorry that was for @SummerBreezeAutumnLeaves

I had to pay £40 for a signature to confirm I was fit to SCUBA dive. But I paid nothing for a letter to my uni to say I was unfit to take exams at that point. So it varies wildly even within the same practice.

Yes. Our doctor's surgery has a list up in the reception of charges for letters to third parties. Can't remember the prices but the list is up front and obvious.

I would go back to the GP. I see a lot of these letters due to my job and the quality does vary from doctor to doctor. Some doctors don't charge and write an essay about the patient (which is great!). Others write a useless one liner. I have even come across a surgery where a fictitious special loses in PIP letters and that letter was fantastic!

I would speak to the doctor about this as they haven't done what was discussed or what you need. If you just needed confirmation of the condition you could have asked for a basic print out of your records for free which would confirm conditions and meds. But you needed something more than that which is why you requested the letter and what the doctor agreed to.

It is quite possible for doctors to comment on what they can see eg if they have witnessed you struggling with mobility they can put this in a letter. Obviously they can't really put something they haven't witnessed but I have also say things like "our practice nurse sees the patient weekly and confirms that he is appears to struggle with walking and getting in and out of a chair".