AIBU to think £32 for a doctor's letter is extortionate!

[Pebble21uk]

My partner's 40th birthday yesterday and we were due to go away for the weekend. We've had to cancel as she has cellulitus. Phoned the doctors this morning to get a letter for our travel insurance company confirming this and was told the cost will be £32. Is it me or is that extortionate? I'm sure when I've needed letters in the past it's been no more than £20... are doctors now going in line with the cost of lawyer's letters! Who gets the money anyway - the doctor or the surgery?

it does seem quite high. GPs are salaried, they arent exactly on minimum wage. my surgery also charges £1 if you want a copy of your blood test results. fair enough but also a bit at paying for info about my own blood.

Its seems quite reasonable. I had to pay £200 to get a consultation to sign a form saying my husband no longer had capacity for the court of protection, to say I was annoyed is an understatement!

Seems entirely reasonable. Sorry that this is probably not what you want to hear.

Sounds about right for 10 minutes of a highly qualified professional’s time.

"my surgery also charges £1 if you want a copy of your blood test results. fair enough but also a bit"

They could have charged you a tenner under the DPA!

But they can't charge anything now following GDPR.

guess I should have become a doctor instead then!

Well there is always that option.

ewhittaker £10, seriously?

thats good to know now though!

£10, seriously?

Yes, technically it would be a DPA request which can be £10. But as I mentioned there should not be any charge now at all under GDPR.

If you get asked to pay now you should remind them of this. We changed our processes overnight to be in line with the law (as all practices should have) and staff have been briefed etc.

And, and I should add - we never charged patients for blood results. It seemed petty. But some practices did!

Asking for a copy of your medical records is not the same as asking a doctor to generate a letter expressing their medical opinion for a private contractual arrangement with an insurer.

Yabu. Presumably the letters you send are part of your job. Insurance letters are not part of a nhs doctors job and are charged accordingly.

My husband is a tradesman and he charges £30 (inc VAT) to do an insurance report letter, so £32 seems very reasonable.

The cost is not just ink and paper, it's not just time spent typing, it's the fact you are paying a knowledgable professional to give their expert opinion.

During my divorce, my solicitor charged £17.50 (plus VAT) for reading an email and £35 plus VAT for replying to an email!

So £32 for a doctors letter on (presumably) headed paper seems quite reasonable to me!

When I sign certificates to release payment
It costs my clients £50
It may seem like I literally sign my name to a piece of paper but actually I need to check what I am signing my name to is correct, have the knowledge and training to know it's correct, cover my office overheads, registration, insurances
Drs have to cover private work with additional insurance that they pay a hefty premium. And a letter no matter how tiny is private work.
When my dr DH does private work he has to pay his secretary costs, admin and insurance out of that

Solicitors letter would cost closer to £50, again, they have years of training that backs up those figures

We the principle isn’t wrong but the figure is... the point is that you’re not paying for 2 minutes of time, you’re paying for two minutes of time (which is actually nearer to 15 minutes minimum) plus a minimum of 6 years’ education and training, plus a shedload of professional studies loans, plus the overheads of running the practice, plus insurance (in case we get it wrong) etc etc.

XP with wonky

fair enough but also a bit hmm at paying for info about my own blood.

Surely you’re not paying for info about your blood though? You’re paying for a paper copy of that info. I’m sure they give you it verbally for free?

This is an interesting thread. Why is it that a GP has to do an insurance letter as private work and charge for it, but a fit note to sign you off work can be done as part of the normal service - surely it is essentially the same thing?

It's not the same at all.

it's done in their own time and believe me it's not a quick thing the Dr has to go through patient records which is time consuming also while there doing this they could be seeing patients so it takes away nah appts as well !!

@GladAllOver What are the differences?

I have occasionally waived the fee in certain circumstances I don’t want to appear that I’m picking and choosing who can pay but I could never bring myself to charge for a letter confirming signs of domestic violence.

How can it be done in their own time and also be taking away from NHS appointments... that's completely contradictory

I was charged £30 for a letter from my GP to my employer stating I could WFH when I was signed off sick most of my pregnancy. Ridiculous.
I think something like claiming back on insurance for a holiday is different though.

That letter also contained incorrect information, which was unsurprising as it was written by a GP who told me I was pregnant, not I'll (had HG) and that I shouldn't expect to go back to work once I'd had DD as employers don't like to employ mothers 🤔 but that's a whole other story