Rilla - cremation forms have to be signed by two separate doctors, one who has seen the person before death, and another who wasn't involved (who has to have, I think 5 years qualified experience as a doctor). This is because you are essentially confirming that the death was without blame, and that there is absolutely no other information that should or could be collected before the body is cremated. The crem form also confirms that there are no devices like pacemakers which could damage the crematorium, so if you don't actually check these things you could be liable for damages.
Sorry, definitely off the original topic!
And Hackmum, doctors are there to help their patients, but letters like 'fit to fly' and details for holidays aren't actually directly related to medical care and are not covered within the work doctrs are paid to do, and so are, quite rightly, charged for. I think a GP has responded above quite reasonably as to why they don't often use email as a form of communication. within hospitals only secure nhs systems can be used for anything involving patient details, although I guess as a patient it's up to you how you want to transmit your own personal details - as long as someone at the other end is willing to accept whatever you're sending in email form.
As with all these situations, it is worth getting letters like this well in advance, because your gp won't consider it the priority that you do, and then you don't risk being stuck without it, or in an awkward position with transport etc.