To think this is disgusting - GP charging for form

[FrostedFancy]

GP surgery insist I must pay £40 for completion of a form from school to request online learning for my DD (14) who is suffering from MH issues due to being diagnosed with a serious health condition.

AIBU to think this is absolutely disgusting to profit from a child with medical condition and mental health issues needing access to an education?

Form literally would take 5 minutes to complete.

GPs are taxed on all private work they do, that includes filling out forms

I don’t think it is entirely different. It’s prescribing something that will mitigate a medical condition. Medication prescribed by a dr also mitigates a medical condition. In each case the patient wouldn’t need what’s being prescribed if it weren’t for the fact they’re suffering from a medical condition.

The GP’s salary could be relevant in some circumstances. There’s an issue of fairness,, for example, if a partner GP earning £100k is charging a patient struggling to make ends meet in the current CoL climate. I would hope there would at least be some leeway for patients struggling financially, though some will find it embarrassing to ask.

@moomoomoo27 $100K? Just a slight exaggeration! $2-3K is more standard.

Not that this has anything to do with the OP.

This is the norm. Is your child under CAMHS? They may provide the letter for free.

It may be that some think like that. But some of us really do believe in the NHS being ‘free at the point of use’ - ie NOT actually free - because we pay for it out of taxation, rather than when we use the service. And that those who are fortunate enough to earn well should be taxed accordingly. Not that those who are on low incomes should be subject to indiscriminate charges to address a medical need in their child, who then has to go without if the parent can’t pay.

It’s prescribing something that will mitigate a medical condition.

GPs do not prescribe modes of education. They are neither qualified nor contracted to do so.

There’s an issue of fairness

There are issues to do with fairness in society, but they are irrelevant in this context.

GPs have charged for letters and forms, for years. Nothing new.

Completely unreasonable of the school to expect your GP to make this assessment - they are not experts in mental health.

The GP informs the education provider of the limitations created by the medical condition, presumably, so that the education specialists understand the child’s needs. A bit like a referral to a medical specialist.

I don’t agree the fairness issues are irrelevant - not morally, at least. But there’s a rather old-fashioned concept, right there!

There’s an issue of fairness,, for example, if a partner GP earning £100k is charging a patient struggling to make ends meet in the current CoL climate
This is such a bizarre point of view.
The GP's earnings are completely irrelevant, no other professional would be expected to give their time and expertise at a vastly discounted rate because their client may earn less.

As has been stated many times on this thread, a GP filling out a form is classed as private work and not on the NHS so you are not actually paying for it out of taxation

I have to pay £100 for some forms I need filling.

Honestly if you are going down the CAMHS route please try and just relax and pay the £40 and forget about it because unfortunately you will be fighting for years. Extreme cases in my area are 18 months to 2 years waiting and everyone else is a 3 year waiting list so your battle is only just beginning

It's appalling @FrostedFancy

And state of this country that people are defending it. I expect Tory voters one and all.

It may be that the school are unreasonable here. But if it is reasonable for a medical professional to report and that’s not reasonably their GP, there’s the rather obvious problem that getting a child in front of CAMHS is more difficult to arrange than an audience with the Pope. The child would likely have gone to uni before it happened.

'Just' five minutes for ten people for example (not unusual) would be nearly an extra hour a day. Filling forms.

Yes! I know that! But it doesn’t make it right. They are already being paid once by the NHS, for medical care of their patients. Of which the child is one. And this covers a need arising from a medical condition.

I guess for me it maybe falls in the category of ‘just because you can, doesn’t mean you necessarily should’. But I’m long in the tooth and no doubt harking back to a time when standards were different.

The GP informs the education provider of the limitations created by the medical condition, presumably, so that the education specialists understand the child’s needs. A bit like a referral to a medical specialist.

As described here, totally unlike a referral to a medical specialist.

Not from my perspective as a patient.

Not a Tory voter, never have been, and unless they do a complete and utter 180 at some point, I never, ever will be.

But like others have said multiple times, I'm simply aware that GP surgeries are private business entities contracted to fulfil a very specific set of services by the NHS, and that providing letters/completing forms such as these are simply not included in that contract for any surgery I've come across so far.

If you don't like it, take it up with your MP. No other professional would be expected to work for free, and that is the only other option under current contractual arrangements. It's simply not unreasonable for a GP surgery to charge for a service the NHS doesn't pay them for - it's reality. The issue is the school or local authority asking for something that will cost money without covering/reimbursing, not the GPs at the surgery - shock, horror - being paid for their time like everyone else, including in the context of putting your name and registration to something and therefore spending time reading records etc. before doing so.

The situation with healthcare overall in this country is dire, but that doesn't mean doctors/nurses/anyone else should be expected to work for free (more than they already do, as I see every workday).

So they should work overtime for free then? Because a lot of GPs do stay way over the time they were supposed to have finished to complete such forms! It may cover a medical information but the information was requested by a 3rd party that is non NHS and as I have stated many times before on this thread that once a GP fills out and signs this form it then becomes a legal document that they can be held accountable for. Not only that, it is very time consuming for the GP to complete such forms. And that is why they charge, not just for their time of doing private work outside of their normal NHS work but due to the fact they are signing a legal document! Go to any solicitor and they will charge way more for completing any sort of legal document.

I do think it's an awful amount of money to be charged so I agree with you OP and I'm in Ireland and pay €60 to see my gp which I've absolutely no issue with. However I've often got to get forms filled in for my autistic son and don't get charged a cent for those.

Ridiculous OP. Your child has an educational need arising from a MH need. Why are you asking the GP to give their opinion on mode of education? If you think their opinion IS valuable, then give them time to form it and write it up. Pay them too. Or tell your MP etc.

It will take their time to complete and is not something they can charge anyone else for. So I do think it is unreasonable to expect them to do it for free. GPs are businesses now. I dont like it, but that is the system we have.

You're right, they aren't mental health experts but a GP is perfectly able to write a fit note for a patient with severe anxiety, statinh their case, they prescribe to them & for countless other mental health conditions every day. I've seen them do exactly this.