Doctor was £25 cash for doing my fit to fly note

[PinkBump2022]

I’m going on holiday and since im passed 26 weeks I was told I need a fit to fly note. The dr said she will do this but wants £25 cash in exchange for the note.
is this normal to charge cash? I’m with the NHS in the uk and we never have to pay for things

A midwife did mine for free this week - she wasn’t even my midwife, just the only one available at my 20 week scan. Hope you get it sorted x

This.

I would ask your GP about their protocol also to know for sure. It seems unprofessional that a GP would just ask for cash like that. But I have no idea!

I had to have a fit to fly note a few weeks ago to travel at 33 weeks. I too was confused why the GP, who knows nothing about my pregnancy would do it and not the midwife, but had no issues getting one.

I'm in Wales and didn't need to pay for it I simply had a telephone consultation and picked it up the next day.

But the midwife or indeed any GP can sign off anything and do work for free if they want

its just the point that they don’t have to! Does the OP or any poster who thinks this is wrong work for free?

That’s a normal rate I think for 10-15 min private work plus secretarial time. Some practices have stopped doing them as they’re barely managing to do all the NHS work. You call also go to a private GP with your maternity records and your GP practice will give you a summary of your medical record for free.

We outsource a lot of our private work as we’re so swamped with NHS work so the money doesn’t really go to the practice - just on to the contractors as the GPs don’t have capacity to do it even for extra money (I’m a recently qualified GP) but not sure if that extends to fit to fly letters.

They probably ask for cash because nobody writes cheques anymore and why would a GP have a card machine , so it’s either cash or bank transfer .

It was requested i paid for mine and that was 5years ago.

@Algbu6

But why would OP need a receipt?

It's normal to charge. What benefit is a receipt? She doesn't need proof of purchase.

@RavenPaws the £5 fee for swearing an oath etc is standard, certifying things is not

it isn’t nhs work so why wouldn’t they charge? Do you work for free? You’re lucky - most won’t do them at all.

Fit to fly letters, passport signing, travel vaccinations, travel insurance forms etc are all considered private work by the government and so aren’t covered by the NHS contract. This means that the doctor won’t be paid by the NHS to do this and you need to cover the cost instead.

They can’t and shouldn’t do this for free because doing so devalues the profession and this type of admin takes practitioners away from essential NHS work.

You were probably asked to pay cash direct to the GP because the practice isn’t set up with any other payment method.

Don’t worry, the way things are going I’m sure practices will be taking card, direct debit and bank transfer payments for pretty much everything over the next years.

£25 is pretty cheap tbh. It’s not NHS work, if you want to fly abroad it’s up to you to pay for the letter. I. Any imagine why you’d need a receipt, you hand them the money, they give you the letter it’s a simple transaction!

Not true. You need to know who they are, and it makes no difference whether you're a friend who's seen them half a dozen times in the last two years, or teacher/doctor/lawyer who's seen them half a dozen times.

Many people don't have a 'suitable' professional in their friendship group. What are they supposed to do?

Why shouldn't she. You and many other posters keep getting heated over it's normal to charge. Did I say it wasn't???

I’m a midwife.
We can sign fit to fly letters if the patient is completely low risk pregnancy and midwife led care. Any risk factors and a doctor needs to sign it. This is usually the obstetric consultant in my trust. If it’s signed during an appointment that the patient needed anyway there is no charge. If an appointment has to be made to sign it then they charge for the appointment.

My consultant would have signed mine at an appointment when I asked if it was ok to fly, unfortunately for me he said I shouldn't fly ☹️

Why shouldn't she. You and many other posters keep getting heated over it's normal to charge. Did I say it wasn't???

I'm not 'getting heated'. I asked why you advised her to get a receipt. I asked 2 other posters as well. Nobody has come up with an answer.

It's normal but charging prices can be inconsistent even at the same medical centre.

@alnawire take heed then!

I don't know what you mean by that.

@Floralnomad - my GP has a card machine but they also have a private clinic for travel jabs/chicken pox jabs etc so that’s probably why.

@saraclara What I said is true. It says it clearly on the government website. I say no to clients for this reason.

The list of professions is very long.

GP surgeries run the way they are are far more cost effective than the health board/authority running them so remove them from private control and it will cost the country a fortune

Normal. My surgery charges £60 for this. In They don't have to do it. It's a private, non NHS service.