is this for real??

[dizzyg]

my Gp wants to charge me £120 for filling in his half of the ofsted form is this a normal amount or is he taking the peeeeeeeeeee! am registering to become a childminder.

Wow that's alot! But mine did charge £70 2 years ago & all they basically do is put their signature on the back!

Yes they can charge a lot for that.

There is no fixed fee so that could be right but that's certainly the highest I have seen.

BMA guidance is £84.50 though that may be prior to the VAT increase (not sure if VAT applies to the fees or not). However it is only guidance.
Could be a way of starting to negotiate the fee, as the GP may not be aware of the BMA guidance on this particular issue.

It's a business expense as far as I know, so keep the invoice/reciept so you can claim it via your first year accounts.

Gosh, that is alot of money! I was so lucky with my GP, she didn't charge me anything. Another childminder who I know was registering at the same time as me was charged 85 by her GP.

thanks nannynick, i will def use this as a way of negotiating, knew i would get help from mumsnet thanks so much!!!!

BMA: Childminders - should you need the link. It is 2009 dated and then it was £87.50 Did ask on Twitter about a 2011 price but no one responded to me.
So did some google searching and found 84.50 being mentioned on GP surgery websites such as St Lukes Surgery.

News article about GP fees

Problem with all these sources of info is that they out of date. So what is the 2011 BMA guide fee? What is charged by GP surgeries in your area?

So point out the BMA fee guide from 2009 and ask the GP what the current BMA guide fee is? Then suggest you meet half-way between the fee the GP wants and the BMA guide fee. Worth a try... though the GP may well just say, that's the fee and that's that. Alas nothing you can do.

OMG!!!!! lol that is terrible!

In scotland, gp just gives a medical reference. Mine charged me £25! lol

mine charged me £20

mine did it for free...i think its terrible they charge

mine did for free... why would they charge.. not too onerous is it.. a bit mean considering the average Gp wage me thinks..

pehaps he/she thinks you can somehow claim it back.. is it worth mentioning that you cant...

Try a plea to the practice manager as well......struggling small business trying to get registered so you can start earning etc etc

Back in 2004 mine charged me £60. A year later same doctor charged a friend £15. Just shows that if you don't ask, you don't get!

I agree it is likely that doctor doesn't realise the fee is coming out of your own pocket.

Alternatively, explain that you are merely asking for a signature, and not applying for shares in the practice

argh having nightmare trying to get anyway with practice so have now made appt with doctor for wednesday so lets see what happens , i think that they think it is like insurance form have told them cannot wok without it, but alas greeting with 'bothered' face, lets hope wednesday is better!!! thanks so much for all the support and the info :)

sorry typo error *work not wok lol and greeted not greeting, i have one eye on one born every minute

I am a GP (prepares to get flamed) we are signing these forms to say there is nothing at all in your medical records (including all the old handwritten bits from the year dot) that would suggest any unsuitablity to be a childminder medically or psychologically. If something came to light and a child was abused/neglected in your careand there was found to be something in your records which might have predicted this I could end up in court or be struck off so I do charge quite a lot for these. NB it would usually take an hour or more of my time to complete and is not in any way NHS work (and i do 10hr a day of NHS work so this would be done in my own free time)

I feel it's perfectly fair for GPs to charge. When childminders start the registration process (or even better before they get that far) it should be made clear to them what the expected upfront costs will be for things including health checks. Paperwork like this takes time, records need to be checked and a decision has to be made from that.

What does seem a little strange is that GPs can charge what they like for such things. Sleepless - can you shed any light in to why some GPs decide to charge more than the BMA fee guide? Is it down to things like GPs time being worth more in some parts of the country than in other parts of the country? Or is it that private fees are purely down to each individual GP?

Childminding is also a responsible job and we are legally obliged to ensure that children in our care are kept safe from abuse. We also have to do hours of paperwork in our own time. With our fees being £2.50-£7 per hour, I'm sure you can appreciate why many childminders resent such high charges being levied against us for this check.
It's fortunate that parents, some of whom are doctors, aren't charged for the extra work we do out of hours!

BMA were challenged on fee setting as the office of fair trading said they were running a cartel by recommending fees. This is why BMA rate have not been revised for years and years. The fee charged is set by the GPs concerned so will vary from practice to practice although we look at what other practices locally charge and make sure our rates remain competitive but that we are not doing significant amounts of work for free