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

[SpecialOPs]

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!

As @StopGo said, it's because the GP is essentially the "first responder" in that they're the first person to be examining your DD after the RTA, in relation to pain that your DD is experiencing. They do not know whether or not the insurance companies will be involved, either from your DD's side or the other side. It doesn't make a difference if your DD was driving or not, she was still involved in the RTA.

You have to pay for Sick notes these days??

Friends were charged a nominal amount when they went to A&E after a crash, this was in 1997.

Only if you have been off for less than a week, as you should be able to self-certify for the first week. The charge is not to make money - it's to stop every employer demanding that you get a sick note for every single brief illness.

Trust me, if there was no charge, no one would ever get a GP appointment because GPs would literally do nothing else.

You don't have to pay to see a GP on the NHS

It sounds like the payment is for the letter because it is classed as private work ie not a commissioned service

Just to add, if it's £23.50 for a letter that sounds like a bargain

Imagine what a lawyer would charge?!

DS pays to see a GP annually which employer does reimburse. It's a full health check.

OP - maybe call again, asked to speak to the Practice Manager for clarity what the charge is actually for.

I never knew this until now!

I didn't know this. Because of RTA? I didn't know that.

You can see a GP for free but that £23 I would say it is for the insurance letter.

GPs have been charging for letters for years - quite rightly.
She probably doesn't even need to see a GP, just wait for time to do its work, so this is a huge amount of fuss about nothing.

People have posted the link to the relevant regulations and others are still insisting the charge is for the letter - it is not.

Yes correct about the ambulance charge as well after RtA has been in place for many many years .

My BIL a got charge over 30 years ago . It’s NOT NEw

It is because you are asking for a letter, these have always been chargeable.

Calm down dear

They don't know that so they

I’m an Australian. We pay to see a GP. If you’re poor (or even if you’re just stingy) you can get in with a GP who bulk bills the government but they are very often foreign doctors and they don’t prescribe opiates or benzodiazepines.

From what I hear from reading mumsnet - no one wants to pay to see a GP and you often get triaged by a receptionist. To me this is utter madness.

I value the work my GP does. I value the work the receptionists and the nurses do. I want them to earn a living wage. I can schedule iron infusions & vitamin B infusions at the practice I go to. I pay for this. I pay for vaccinations unless I’m pregnant (in which case it’s free). I can easily get blood tests organised and it’s usually in the place next door to my GP. If I want a Pap smear my GP won’t argue that it’s not medically necessary. When I found a lump in my breast it wasn’t weeks to get an appointment- it was attended to in days and no one argued that I was too young to get a mammogram. If I need scans (ultrasound/X-ray/MRI) done the government pays.

I pay private health insurance which covers ambulance and most medical costs. I don’t rely 100% on the government to attend to my medical issues and if I go to a public hospital I ask that my insurance be charged instead of it being 100% charged to the government.

I’m shocked that your daughter wants the week off work and stronger painkillers but refuses to pay £26 to see a GP. There are forms to fill in when there’s a traffic accident. There’s insurance schemes. I’m just shocked at the entitlement and this expectation that you don’t pay anything.

That RTA first to injured person charge went out with the ARC your GP is taking the piss

In any event they can't do anything about whiplash. Get some OTC cocodamol if paracetamol isn't helping.

I've dealt with injury claims for over 20 years and that fee was old school when I started. I've never paid it it's bollocks.

Just tell her to phone first thing tomorrow (as soon as lines open) and say she needs an emergency appointment for a bad back, then tell work herself what’s happened.

GPs really aren't great with whiplash anyway. She needs to see a physio asap. She will have to pay but her insurers should reimburse her. Hopefully she has reported the accident. The longer she waits before getting physio the worse the outcome will be. Ideally whiplash needs physio within 24 hours. She needs to chase her insurers for the physio claim forms. Keep all receipts.

Sorry, just seen she was a passenger. She needs to make sure the driver has claimed on her behalf.

Oh look at that, a new poster (or username) posting to slag off the NHS. That never happens.