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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Since when did you have to pay to see NHS GP?!!

149 replies

SpecialOPs · 09/02/2023 13:08

Dd was a passenger in a car at the weekend which was rear ended at traffic lights.

She was fine at first then got symptoms of whiplash and has very painful shoulder, neck and headache. She works at a PC and it's agony to sit in her chair so has had to take most of this week off.

Rang GP this morning to see if she could get some stronger pain meds and a note saying she should WFH next week rather than travel into London.

Receptionist said she needed to pay £23.50 before a GP would speak to her! DD said that can't be right, receptionist insisted so DD said she wouldn't pay it. I rang back later and it was confirmed,

Apparently this is because they will be the first to see her after an RTA? I said would A&E have refused to treat her until she'd paid then if she'd been rushed there with more serious injuries? She said she didn't know.

AIBU to think this is an outrage!

OP posts:
007DoubleOSeven · 09/02/2023 13:32

No need to shout @SpecialOPs we're just trying to help.

ComtesseDeSpair · 09/02/2023 13:33

Many GPs have a policy for this and have done for years. They don’t believe she’s seeking genuine medical attention, they think she just wants to be able to have it formally recorded in her records that she sought medical attention after the accident, to bolster an insurance claim.

Original poster
SpecialOPs · 09/02/2023 13:33

StopGo · 09/02/2023 13:20

Emergency treatment under the Road Traffic Act

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988, the first doctor to provide emergency treatment to the victim of a road traffic accident is generally entitled to charge a fee of £21.30 in respect of each person treated (Section 158(2).

Since 1999 the ability to levy a fee under S158 of the Road Traffic Act, has been limited to claims by doctors not working in NHS hospitals, as the cost of hospital treatment is recovered from insurers directly by the NHS.

The fee can be levied even if the person driving the vehicle at the time of the accident is on the GP’s NHS list.

DD was not the driver though and also wouldn't class it as emergency' treatment. They're taking the piss no?

OP posts:
Original poster
SpecialOPs · 09/02/2023 13:34

She is not claiming anything on insurance?

OP posts:
MaggieFS · 09/02/2023 13:35

Well I never knew about what @StopGo posted.

Rather than going in asking for the desired outcome i.e, WFH which doesn't sound like a chargeable letter, has DD tried asking for an appointment because she has a sore back?

viques · 09/02/2023 13:38

SpecialOPs · 09/02/2023 13:31

IT IS NOT FOR THE FIT NOTE!

Is this how you spoke to the receptionist?

007DoubleOSeven · 09/02/2023 13:38

SpecialOPs · 09/02/2023 13:34

She is not claiming anything on insurance?

But the gp surgery doesn't know that. Nor do they know if the other party will or not.

Just tell her to make an apt without mentioning the accident and go from there 🤷

007DoubleOSeven · 09/02/2023 13:38

SpecialOPs · 09/02/2023 13:34

She is not claiming anything on insurance?

But the gp surgery doesn't know that. Nor do they know if the other party will or not.

Just tell her to make an apt without mentioning the accident and go from there 🤷

StopGo · 09/02/2023 13:40

@SpecialOPs the first treatment a person seeks can be considered the 'emergency' and it doesn't matter that she wasn't the driver. She is, of course, entitled to claim it back via the driver's insurance.

It used to be unusual for GPs and A&E to claim the payment but that seems to have changed.

BarbaraofSeville · 09/02/2023 13:42

It's to do with the car accident/insurance. Something like 30 years ago I received medical treatment after a road accident and got a bill for a reasonably trivial sum - £15-20 ish. It's not a new thing at all.

CharlotteRose90 · 09/02/2023 13:44

She needs to go to a&e then if she doesn’t want to pay. Or call 111 and explain and see what they say.

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 09/02/2023 13:45

My GP has a note up saying that appointments after RTCs are chargeable.

it’s because people can claim it on the insurance.

It’s been up for a few years now, certainly before lockdowns.

Rowthe · 09/02/2023 13:47

Minor injuries arent what a GP deals with.

The first review after a RTA has a payment attached to it.

GP surgeries can claim this.

LadyLapsang · 09/02/2023 13:47

@SpecialOPs If she is suffering whiplash I would advise her to seek medical advice and examination. She may need scans, physio etc. Don’t rule out an insurance claim, she has already suffered pain. Claims can also reimburse her employer if she is on sick leave. There may be long term impact - I still get pain from a whiplash injury suffered over 25 years ago. I hope she feels better soon.

Viviennemary · 09/02/2023 13:49

The charge will be for the note not the appointment.

XJerseyGirlX · 09/02/2023 13:49

You are able to self cert for 7 days without a dr's note, if you want a dr's note for that it's classed as private work and they will charge. If you want another note after 7 days then that will be free. That's how it works in my surgery. They are pushing to get people to self cert for the first 7 days.

ancientgran · 09/02/2023 13:50

StopGo · 09/02/2023 13:20

Emergency treatment under the Road Traffic Act

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988, the first doctor to provide emergency treatment to the victim of a road traffic accident is generally entitled to charge a fee of £21.30 in respect of each person treated (Section 158(2).

Since 1999 the ability to levy a fee under S158 of the Road Traffic Act, has been limited to claims by doctors not working in NHS hospitals, as the cost of hospital treatment is recovered from insurers directly by the NHS.

The fee can be levied even if the person driving the vehicle at the time of the accident is on the GP’s NHS list.

That's interesting. I was injured in an accident and treated at local hospital. When I got compensation I found I had to pay the hospital some money, can't remember how much, and reimburse my employer for the sick pay I'd had.

Agony for me, 5 days in hospital and I ended up with £800.

Rowthe · 09/02/2023 13:50

SpecialOPs · 09/02/2023 13:34

She is not claiming anything on insurance?

She was in a RTA and it is the first review by a doctor and is due to symptoms following the RTA

007DoubleOSeven · 09/02/2023 13:50

I've had whiplash 3x, twice I went to gp and they treated it much better than the one time I was seen at a&e

ancientgran · 09/02/2023 13:51

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 09/02/2023 13:45

My GP has a note up saying that appointments after RTCs are chargeable.

it’s because people can claim it on the insurance.

It’s been up for a few years now, certainly before lockdowns.

Yes mine was 40 years ago.

bigdecisionstomake · 09/02/2023 13:55

I thought this was standard? I self-presented at A&E a few years ago following a rear end shunt with whiplash and a wrist injury (as advised by GP) and they charged me in the region of £20 if I remember correctly. As PP said this is standard for the first medical appt following a RTA.

Basically it is an insured event therefore you are supposed to claim it back on your (or their) insurance.

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 09/02/2023 14:00

ComtesseDeSpair · 09/02/2023 13:33

Many GPs have a policy for this and have done for years. They don’t believe she’s seeking genuine medical attention, they think she just wants to be able to have it formally recorded in her records that she sought medical attention after the accident, to bolster an insurance claim.

GP here. That isn't true. Whiplash can be extremely painful and patients may very genuinely need painkillers or - if it doesn't improve - physio.

Are there some people scamming the system? Sure, but that's true of many other genuine medical conditions too.

However, as PPs have explained, there are particular conditions regarding treatment after a road traffic accident or - if a private medical certificate is required (not the case here, from what the OP says), so charges can arise. That doesn't mean that GPs think that everyone with whiplash pain is faking.

Musicaltheatremum · 09/02/2023 14:00

Yup it's an old one but the first Dr treating the patient after RTC can claim a fee.

We've never done it. Not really worth it as we don't see that many

ivykaty44 · 09/02/2023 14:03

In 1991 I had an invoice sent for ambulance and hospital stay after a RTA, it was passed to insurance company to sort - which they did

RTA cost £470million each year

there is a government cost recovery system to try to mitigate this high cost to nhs

mauvish · 09/02/2023 14:03

StopGo · 09/02/2023 13:20

Emergency treatment under the Road Traffic Act

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988, the first doctor to provide emergency treatment to the victim of a road traffic accident is generally entitled to charge a fee of £21.30 in respect of each person treated (Section 158(2).

Since 1999 the ability to levy a fee under S158 of the Road Traffic Act, has been limited to claims by doctors not working in NHS hospitals, as the cost of hospital treatment is recovered from insurers directly by the NHS.

The fee can be levied even if the person driving the vehicle at the time of the accident is on the GP’s NHS list.

This.

Ambulance trusts can also charge for taking you to hospital after an RTA, and AED departments can do the same.

And if you have an accident on the motorway that in any way affects the road surface ,you may receive a bill of £££ from the Highways Agency for emergency road repairs.

But those of who keep saying it's "for the note" you keep thinking that if you want. Several people here have pointed out the same as I just have.