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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be annoyed at GP practice for charging £20

108 replies

Booper13 · 17/05/2011 20:24

I'm 30 weeks pregnant and am taking a flight on Thursday. The airline require a confirmation from GP or midwife that I am medically fit to fly. I phoned GP surgery to ask about this and was told to come in and see GP. I did this and without examining me or doing any BP check or anything GP said he would dictate a letter and I could collect it today. When I went today I was told it would be £20. I was not advised either when I phoned or saw the GP that there would be a charge for this, so was quite surprised. Is this normal practice? Obviously I don't want bad relations with the surgery but I just wondered if this has happened to others.

OP posts:
HeadfirstForHalos · 18/05/2011 00:09

yabu! The NHS has limited resources as it is. MY dh had to pay £80 for a medical when he was going for his HGV licence. It's standard practice.

JumpOnIt · 18/05/2011 00:10

They should have told you but it's perfectly reasonable to charge. I thought it was pretty much common knowledge.

Morloth · 18/05/2011 00:44

I think it is fine to charge for this but that they should have let you know there would be a charge when you called them to start with.

Now you know.

Sidge · 18/05/2011 08:40

midoriway no they don't get paid per appointment.

They get a lump sum based on their practice population and then can 'earn' additional payments based on offering additional services, as well as meeting QOF targets.

TattyDevine · 18/05/2011 09:07

Those NHS admin staff must earn a fortune if its £20 to type a letter (10 mins max). They must be on a daily rate of £960 a day or an annual income of £249,600.

Either that, or the charge overinflated and unfair.

A fiver would have been more appropriate seeing as the OP was not examined.

WillbeanChariot · 18/05/2011 09:24

You would not be surprised to be charged £20 for a letter by a private doctor, so it is not unreasonable for that fee to be charged by the NHS for a private service. Nothing to do with the usual wages of the admin staff.

I'm a lawyer and usually funded by legal aid. The rates are crap. I do not charge those rates for my rare pieces of private work, I charge market rates. Same thing IMHO.

YABU but they should have told you what the charge would be.

Mumwithadragontattoo · 18/05/2011 11:19

YANBU in that they should have said upfront what the charge would be. Also I would have expected the doctor to do a actual check before writing such a letter.

However, I do agree that it is reasonable to charge an admin fee for this service and £20 is OK.

IWantAnotherBaby · 18/05/2011 11:37

The charge is less for admin and more for the fact that the Dr is taking personal and legal responsibility for saying that the patient is fit to fly. This is based entirely on her records, and no further examination is required. In complex cases, where an examination may be required, the charge is considerably more than the very small fee the OP was charged. I write letters like this frequently for my patients; we do ask them to make an appointment so we can confirm details of their travel arrangements, confirm their pregnancy dates at the time of travel, and review their patient-held maternity notes which will often have more information in them than we have on our computer system.

OP, YABU to expect this to be done for free! Details of charges are usually easily available from your GP reception staff, but most GPs will ask if you are aware of the charge.

zukiecat · 18/05/2011 11:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SardineQueen · 18/05/2011 11:51

Absolutely they should have told you upfront about the charge.

I have been trying to have a look at my medical records and am having a hell of a time. It looks like it might run to quite a lot of money.

I suppose the point is that they need to tell you upfront what the cost is so that you can decide whether you need it / whether you need to wait and save up etc.

onadietcokebreak · 18/05/2011 11:53

They should of told you upfront and doctor should have examined you. Shoddy

onadietcokebreak · 18/05/2011 11:54

Makes me laugh that the doctor can make me wait 50 minutes whilst he calls patients out of turn......maybe next time I can charge him!

brizzagirl · 18/05/2011 11:59

Booper have you tried your midwife? I got a permission to fly letter from my midwife (asked at my 28 week appt so I wasn't taking up any extra time) and she didn't charge me, although the GP would have charged £20. They have a standard letter that she just had to print out and sign. Personally I am not against the GP charging but £20 seems like more than a nominal fee for this.

blackteaplease · 18/05/2011 12:04

I got 2 letters from my midwife at no charge when pregnant. Maybe next time you should go direct to yours, rather than the GP.

Agree they should have told you, although our surgery has a table of charges in the waiting rooom.

greenlime · 18/05/2011 12:07

I would have expected a charge.

We had to cancel our holiday as we had taken DS to the GP and he had a bad chest infection and was unfit to fly. We still had to pay £25 for a letter from the GP stating this.

whatsallthehullaballoo · 18/05/2011 13:01

I had to pay £100.20 for Gp to sign a fit to work form to work as a childminder. I was hacked off because they can basically choose the fee they wish to charge and therefore most people pay between £25-£50....

£20 is fair though I think

Blondeshavemorefun · 18/05/2011 13:25

yes doctors charge to squiggle their name Hmm

i got charged when i needed a letter to say i was fit to fly after having a blood clot (pe) in lung 4 years ago

i was charged last week when needed gp to sign a medical insurance form to say i was recently bereaved to try and claim back on holiday insurance the cost of our holiday which was in 2 weeks

catwhiskers10 · 18/05/2011 13:25

The charge goes to the GP surgery coffers, not to the GP.
Every surgery gets X amount a year per patient to use for equipment, prescribing etc so the charges for things like this add to the funds and make more services available to members of that surgery.
That's why you have postcode lotteries with treatment, it all depends what the surgeries are spending the money on.
It's not unreasonable for them to charge for a service that has nothing to do with the NHS.

Treadmillmom · 18/05/2011 13:31

Some of the replies given to Booper13 I think are unnecessarily sharp. She's asking a very simple question, I can't see anything in her post to make anyone feel the need to be so rude.

Dozzaflower · 18/05/2011 13:47

Yep i was charged £15 for my gp to sign one bit of paper.... easy money hey. You should of been informed though.

springbokscantjump · 18/05/2011 13:55

It's not just about the GP putting pen to paper! By 'squiggling' their name, they are vouching professionally for whatever is written on that. Their insurance premiums are increased because its outside of their NHS work and they take responsibility for confirming that you are fit to fly etc.

So yes, they charge. It's not about the time it takes to complete that task but the responsibility that goes with it. People don't seem to think anything of paying for a solicitor to sign papers etc. so why should a GP be different?

Blondeshavemorefun · 18/05/2011 14:00

fair enough vouching professionally about someone needing to fly

but in my 2nd case for him to squiggle his name on my holiday insurance form confirming i am a widow - when they got sent the intermin death certificate

Rebecca41 · 18/05/2011 14:15

Zukiecat I don't think you'll be charged for that.

springbokscantjump · 18/05/2011 17:33

Blondes sorry wasn't thinking about how that would come across to you before posting - I only really remembered the squiggling bit. I'm so sorry :(

Blondeshavemorefun · 18/05/2011 17:49

no probs spring :)