To think £60 is alot of money for a GP's signature?

[EachandEveryone]

If id have known id have just taken it into my appointment with me but instead i went the official route. Ten days later the receptionist has called to say its ready and its £60. I wont be bothering to collect.

I was in hospital for five nights it was an emergency and i had to pay a cat sitter to come in. It was only looking at my policy that i realised i could claim it back. Every little helps. Form was straightforward i have my letter and everything. The gp has all my info. Sixty quid! Is this normal?

Im a nurse can i just get a doctor on my ward to sign it they know where ive been?

When you consider training to be a vet takes longer and they charge £8 for a signature....
Dr =CF imo.

I have just paid £20 for a letter for DS1 as he has Glandular Fever and University wanted proof to delay exams. I thought that was ok, but £60 does seem a bit steep.

Well its not worth the insurance. I even filled it out.

Can you just provide the hospital discharge letter instead? That should be cheap/free.

That does seem rather a lot tbh. I doubt the actual GP sees any of it, so I don’t think they are the CF.

training to be a vet takes longer

No it doesn't, I don't know where this myth comes from. It takes 5 years, same as medical school. Vets then go straight into practice whereas doctors have to do foundation training and further qualifications.

Vets are private practitioners and therefore free to charge what they consider to be fair for their time and expertise. Most vets undercharge for their professional time compared to private healthcare. Whereass have to recoup costs for the NHS. Time spent writing letters is time not spent with patients.

I had to have a form signed to say I was fit to do a skydive. It cost me £50 five years ago.

I had to get a GP letter saying dd has anxiety and needs to sit GCSEs in a smaller room.
£45 but had no choice. Total rip off.
£60 I’d be just taking hospital discharge letter in. That will be signed surely.

We had to provide a GP letter requesting study leave on medical grounds, plus a request to use an item during the GCSE exams to ease pain.

We were fully prepared to pay, but GP decided to provide it free of charge, for which we were grateful.

Sixty quid, fucking hell.

Call your insurers and ask if a hospital letter is sufficient.

Can you claim for the £60 doctor's letter?

sam most GP practices are also private businesses - they contract their most time to the NHS but also do private work. Insurance letters are part of their private work.

Gosh - my health insurers have always just contacted the hospital themselves to verify

Sorry - I was thinking of where private health insurance pays you a sum for each night you're in a NHS hospital. For travel insurance, yes, the GP charges for filling in the often quite long form from the insurers

Surely they should have told you upfront it was going to be £60 so you could have decided whether to take another route? That's really shocking. What worries me about this, though, OP, is that they will consider that you owe it to them whether or not you pick it up, and it'll be on your records so that you'll get asked for it next time you want to see the dr, which will be upsetting. I don't know but I'd guess that it works like that. Hope you get it sorted, that's not what you need in the middle of a health emergency.

what a disgrace

Be careful about just not picking up the letter as they might want the £60 for doing it anyway. And they might bill you.

It is shameful we treat people like this in our society although I don’t think you can lay all the blame with the GP.

Ask the insurance company if they will pay the £60 to obtain the letter.

I have just paid £20 for my DS for a letter setting out how his heart condition affects him as he has Uni exams coming up. Our surgery lists the cost of letters for different things on it's website. I was tempted to just print out the bits of his records he can access online and hope they would suffice but thought as they would probably bill me anyway as he had requested it I would just have to suck it up.

Insurance letters are part of their private work.

But done by the GP and typist in NHS time using NHS resources, so basically it's £60 straight into the GP's pocket for time spent which should have been spent on NHS work. Just profiteering greedy GP's.

Providing letters for insurance etc is something outside the GPs contract with the NHS and they are allowed to charge a fee. Most will have a list of agreed fees available at the surgery. They should have told you in advance that there would be a fee and how much it would be, £60 does seem high!!!
I paid for a GP letter when I took my ds to Disney - they needed confirmation of his diagnosis for the disabled ride pass, I think it was £20.

The GPs employ their staff and pay them out of the income of the practice which includes their NHS work and their private work. That £60 goes into the pot not into the pocket of the GP who signed the letter.

But done by the GP and typist in NHS time using NHS resources, so basically it's £60 straight into the GP's pocket for time spent which should have been spent on NHS work. Just profiteering greedy GP's.

Of toddle off and get back to your Sun newspaper.

That’s not how GP surgaries work. They aren’t on ‘NHS time’. Educate yourself before spouting bile.

My GP never charges me for private letters. He previously done me letters including VAT exemption on purchase letters, insurance letters etc

Educate yourself before spouting bile.

Back to you actually. I'm an accountant and I've been doing GP, consultant and dentists accounts/tax returns for 30+ years. I know EXACTLY how they operate. How many GP tax returns have you seen???

But done by the GP and typist in NHS time using NHS resources, so basically it's £60 straight into the GP's pocket for time spent which should have been spent on NHS work. Just profiteering greedy GP's.

They might do the letter during "NHS hours" but I think most GPs work a lot more than those hours so arguably it is extra time the NHS is not paying for. As for "NHS resources" aren't GP practices private businesses so they will be buying their own paper etc?

Back to you actually. I'm an accountant and I've been doing GP, consultant and dentists accounts/tax returns for 30+ years. I know EXACTLY how they operate. How many GP tax returns have you seen???

So an accountant who helps people makes a living out of helping the well of pay less tax is accusing doctors and other healthcare professionals of being "greedy and profiteering".