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.

@angela1952 if your DD’s benefits are insufficient that’s on the government. GPs are already paying tax without doing extra work for free.

@angela1952

How odd.

Where is this happening? Which specific benefit requires regular GP's letters to be provided, not to mention repeated medicals? For how long has this been occurring?

I ask because I know people on ADP (Scottish equivalent to PIP), Employment Support Allowance, PIP (until transferred to ADP) and Attendance Allowance. I have assisted them in applying and any follow-up by DWP/SSS. Obviously, no-one claims all of these benefits simultaneously.

I've never heard of anyone (as an ongoing claimant) requiring to produce multiple GP letters, specific in nature, over a period of time.

Certainly, claimants submit documentation they already have from consultants/specialists confirming the nature of their disability, and copies of current repeat medication lists provided on the reverse of any prescriptions etc. etc.

I'm sure GPs are often requested by DWP (SSS in Scotland) to confirm details provided by the claimant. There is zero charge to the claimant for these letters, reports, telephone calls etc.

I'm intrigued as to whether this is a new procedure and whether all disability benefits claimants need to be alerted.

The University should have been able to make a decision after discussion with you if you were 'dying of flu'. The GP shouldn't have been involved and then you would not have had a charge. These sort of medical documents take time and need to be charged for. Would you expect a letter from a lawyer for free?

So you want someone to work for nothing? Of course they should charge, they are a business.

They just issue the same letter every time with a different date, hardly worth £25 even if they wrote it by hand.

I think because you're dealing with a school, who can't charge you for the extra staff time and expertise you're expecting to receive, you're applying the same to the doctor.

As far as going to GPs for things like sick letters at university. of course this is stupid on the face of it and a waste of time for the medical system.

However, the number of students that are taking the piss as it is, with pretending to be sick or whatever, is phenomenal. So I don't really know what the answer is for universities or employers either.

Maybe the workers and students who are honest need to personally take the grifters to task for fucking everyone over.

Where is this happening? Which specific benefit requires regular GP's letters to be provided, not to mention repeated medicals? For how long has this been occurring?*

Im wondering this too. If it's because someone is unable to work then long term fit note is normally issued by GP. And the Benita agencies send people to their own assessors. There's no cost for these.

What benefit are all these letters required for @angela1952

She's on universal credit and one of the disabled benefits. Sorry, can't tell you which, she's an adult who doesn't live with us. They've been told many times by her consultants that she will never be able to work but still keep pursuing her. Interviews and medicals sometimes involve a £25 train fare too.

@angela1952

It really does not sound correct that this is happening on a repeated basis.

Can you encourage her to approach her MP to seek their assistance with this situation?

I'm afraid she doesn't respond well to any suggestions from me, and she gets very stressy when she is pressured by authority figures. The number and length of the forms she has to fill out for any allowances and benefits seems to be growing by the year, though it does result in her paying less council tax and reduced water charges, amongst other things. I never know if problems that arise are due to her failing to complete paperwork or attend appointments.

They could leave it up to lecturer discretion - say, consideration if student submits a partial essay? Unlike the belters who leave it to the last minute.

Sadly educators are no longer respected in the past lecturer discretion no questions asked would've been accepted. They know who puts in the work, who's a no-show etc sadly these days in the interests of being fair the piss takers are put first.

I had no issues getting a deferment when I was genuinely ill but I also showed up at weekly tutorials, participated, was meticulous etc all they all knew me.

@mantyzer More likely because they expect teachers to do it for free!! Which I bet they do. I did. I suppose more fool me...

@angela1952 I'm sorry to hear that. I think you may be right in that her 'failure to comply' maybe what is causing her the problems. It must be very stressful for her and you.

One of my brothers has problems in terms of problems with authority and a generally stubborn nature, really.

After discussing it with our other brothers, I offered to take the stress of interacting with various agencies from him by doing so on his behalf. After insisting he did not need that sort of help/support, he did eventually agree.

For the moment, it's working - I'm assertive with authority, whilst he tends towards aggression. I'm also way more organised than him regarding timescales/submissions etc. He's no longer as stressed as he was previously and, by default, less aggressive when dealing with authority. Of course, part of that is that I attend consultations/meetings/telephone calls with him.

Perhaps there's someone in your family who could offer this to your daughter - becoming an informal advocate and organising her submissions etc.?

I hope 2024 sees things being better for her and you too.

Documenting and meeting the educational and health the needs of SEND children is the actual job of schools and the NHS. By Act of Parliament. It's not some extra you can get grabby about.

@Deliria So you expect teachers to sign passport forms for free but GPs can charge?

And no matter what you say, GP’s are allowed to charge for these forms as it’s (unnecessary) private work for them 🤣 so your argument is a non argument

Also as I have explained before the NHS do jointly meet the needs and work alongside the school by sending the school copies of the clinic letters after they have seen a child in clinic. All the forms do is make GPs write down what is already in those clinic letters that have already been sent to the school by the clinic so the NHS are already playing their part! It is not the GPs problem if the school then wants double confirmation of what has been said in these clinic letters in the way of filling out forms! So yes the GP does have a right to charge because the school already have that information therefore it is an unnecessary waste of a GP’s time

GP is a private for profit business, not part of NHS. GP can and do have chargeable services inc treatment documentation

I had to take DS out of school recently due to a health condition. The consultant at the specialist hospital told me he'd need to Be out for at least 1 month. In order for DS to access the online tutors, there were forms to fill in. I sent them to the hospital. Forms were complete and sent back in a few hours. No charge. But we weren't dealing with a GP. Do you have anyone dealing with your DC at hospital?

No. A I state, I expect the NHS and LA to play the respective roles laid out for them in the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice 2015.

I don't think there is legislation making it a statutory obligation for individual professionals to countersign a passport. If they choose to do so that's another thing. The comparison is laughable.

You are also ill-informed. GP's hold NHS contracts in order to deliver NHS-conmmissioned GP services. This is quite different from private practice which does not involve delivering services on behalf of the NHS.

Have any of you ever had the misfortune of having to deal with any legal professionals?
My solicitor and barrister confirmed to me that I am 100% in the wrong profession! 😄

What don’t you get?? Filling in forms is NOT part of any NHS contract a GP holds, it is private work for them!! They are ALLOWED to charge by law!! You are completely barking up the wrong tree and absolutely ill informed about how GP practices work!

My comments refer to the NHS.