Non NHS Private Fees

 

Private Services

We are happy to provide, by appointment, services such as medical examinations, reports for insurance companies, employers and solicitors, private sick notes, vaccination certificates and fitness medicals for sports and elderly drivers.

As the NHS does not cover these services, fees have to be charged and all payment is required in advance.

Please contact reception on 01253 229520 for further details about these services and the charges.

 

When you are see a private specialist you should be aware what may happen about medication you may need after the consultation.

Guidance for NHS patients

In March 2009, the Department of Health (DH) published guidance for NHS patients who wish to pay for additional private care. The guidance includes the key points below:  

  • your NHS care will continue to be free of charge  
  • you can’t be asked to pay towards your NHS care, except where legislation allows charges, such as prescription charges  
  • the NHS cannot pay for or subsidise your privately funded care  
  • your privately funded care must be given separately, at a different time and place from your NHS care  

Independent Private Referral:

If you choose to refer yourself to a consultant independently of your GP for additional privately funded care (i.e. outside the NHS), whether in the UK or abroad, you are expected to pay the full cost of any treatment (including medication) you receive in relation to the package of care provided privately (including non-emergency complications).  

Private referral through your GP:

After a private referral made by your GP, your private specialist may give you a prescription. You may only need one prescription. The prescription provided by your private specialist will be a private prescription and you must pay for the medication.

If you need continued treatment you may initially be given just one private prescription (which you will need to pay for) and advised to return to your GP to see if further NHS prescriptions can be provided.

There is no obligation, however, for your GP to accept clinical responsibility to prescribe the treatment recommended by a private specialist. To judge your clinical need for the treatment including the reasons for the proposed medication, your GP must have received a full clinical report from the private specialist  

If your GP does not feel able to accept clinical responsibility, then the GPs may consider:  

  • Offering a referral to an NHS consultant to consider whether the recommended medication should be prescribed as part of on-going NHS funded treatment.  
  • Asking the specialist to remain responsible for the treatment because of its specialist nature, and to provide further prescriptions, for which you will need to pay.  

GPs have agreed to prescribe in line with local policies.  

Only if your GP considers there is a clinical need and that an NHS patient would be treated in the same way would an NHS prescription to continue your treatment be considered. 

If the recommendation from your private specialist is for treatment that is not in line with local policies, then your GP may change the medication in line with that used for NHS patients.  

For these reasons, you may not be able to have an NHS prescription immediately, if at all.  

Why do GPs sometimes charge fees?

Isn’t the NHS supposed to be free?

The National Health Service provides most health care to most people free of charge, but there are exceptions: prescription charges have existed since 1951, and there are a number of other services for which fees are charged. Sometimes the charge is made to cover some of the cost of treatment, for example, dental fees; in other cases, it is because the service is not covered by the NHS, for example, medical reports for insurance companies.

Surely the doctor is being paid anyway?

It is important to understand that GPs are not employed by the NHS, they are self-employed, and they have to cover their costs – staff, buildings, heating, lighting, etc – in the same way as any small business. The NHS covers these costs for NHS work, but for non-NHS work the fee has to cover the doctor’s costs.

What is covered by the NHS and what is not?

The Government’s contract with GPs covers medical services to NHS patients. In recent years, more and more organisations have been involving doctors in a whole range of non-medical work. Sometimes the only reason that GPs are asked is because they are in a position of trust in the community, or because an insurance company or employer wants to be sure that information provided is true and accurate.

Can you give examples of non-NHS services for which GPs can charge their NHS patients:

  • accident/sickness insurance certificates
  • certain travel vaccinations
  • private medical insurance reports

Can you give examples of non-NHS services for which GPs can charge other institutions:

  • medical reports for an insurance company
  • some reports for the DSS/Benefits Agency
  • examinations of local authority employees
  • DS 1500 Form (Disability Living/Attendance Allowance)

Is it true that the BMA sets fees for non-NHS work?

The BMA suggests fees for non-NHS work which is not covered under a GP’s NHS contract, to help GPs set their own professional fees. However, these fees are guidelines only, not recommendations, and a doctor is not obliged to charge the rates suggested.

Why does it sometimes take my GP a long time to complete my form?

Time spent completing forms and preparing reports takes the GP away from the medical care of his or her patients. Most GPs have a very heavy workload – the majority work up to 70 hours a week – and paperwork takes up an increasing amount of their time, so many GPs find they have to take some paperwork home at night and weekends.

I only need the doctor’s signature – what is the problem?

When a doctor signs a certificate or completes a report, it is a condition of remaining on the Medical Register that they only sign what they know to be true. In order to complete even the simplest of forms, therefore, the doctor might have to check the patient’s entire medical record. Carelessness or an inaccurate report can have serious consequences for the doctor with the General Medical Council or even the Police.

What will I be charged?

The BMA recommends that GPs tell patients in advance if they will be charged, and how much. It is up to the individual doctor to decide how much to charge, but the BMA produces lists of suggested fees which many doctors use. Surgeries often have lists of fees on the waiting room wall based on these suggested fees.

What can I do to help?

  • Not all documents need signature by a doctor, for example passport applications. You can ask another person in a position of trust to sign such documents free of charge.
  • If you have several forms requiring completion, present them all at once and ask your GP if he or she is prepared to complete them all at once as a (job lot) at a reduced price.
  • Do not expect your GP to process forms overnight. You should expect the form(s) to take up to 4 weeks for the GP to complete and return

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