Not all services at the practice are available under the NHS. Where patients request non-NHS items or services, a private fee may be payable in accordance with British Medical Association (BMA) guidance and in line with charges applied by other General Practice surgeries.
Why fees are charged for some services?
NHS services are provided free of charge to our patients under our General Medical Services contract and the NHS covers the cost of providing these services. However, some additional services are not available under the NHS and are not paid for by NHS funding. GPs are self-employed and have to cover the costs of running the GP Practice just like any other business. Time spent by GPs completing private reports and undertaking private medical examinations are done outside of normal contracted working hours as an extra commitment to a GPs workload. The fees charged for non-NHS services go towards covering the costs of running and investing in our Practice to provide the wide range of services patients require.
What type of service is non-NHS and who pays the fees?
Some services for which a non-NHS fee is applicable will be payable by patients themselves and some services will be payable by other organisations, e.g. insurance companies, local authorities, and solicitors, etc.
Patients should note that not all documents need the signature of a doctor, for example passport applications, where you can ask another person in a position of trust to sign such documents free of charge. Similarly, not all forms need to be completed by a doctor, for example Bus Pass and Blue Badge forms – these can be completed and submitted by patients themselves and only if the application was refused might the patient want to ask the doctor to provide additional information to support their application.
How long it takes for private non-NHS forms etc to be completed?
A doctor’s priority will always be the care provided for patients under the NHS. Time spent completing forms and preparing reports adds to their already heavy workload and non-NHS work is generally done in the doctors’ own time. The patient may feel that they only require a doctor’s signature on a form which should not take long, but a condition of remaining on the Medical Register is that a doctor only signs what they know to be true. They therefore may need to check the patient’s entire medical record to avoid serious consequences for the doctor with the General Medical Council (GMC). The waiting time for non-NHS work and services completed outside normal working hours is therefore likely to be affected by this.
Patients are advised that any documentation to be completed by a doctor can take up to 28 days, dependent upon the availability of the doctor concerned and any factors such as annual leave, sickness, etc.
How fees are determined?
Our fees and charges are set in accordance with British Medical Association (BMA) guidance and in line with charges applied by other General Practice surgeries.
The British Medical Association (BMA) provides guidance on a range of fees. Their suggested fees are for guidance only, and are not recommendations, and doctors are not obliged to charge the rates which they suggest. Our list of charges reflects the BMA suggested fees for some services while for most other services, our fees are lower than the BMA recommended fees.
Payment for services can be made by cash or credit card only and a receipt will be provided. If a service you require is not on our list please enquire at Reception and we will look into whether this can be provided and what the fee would be. Our list of fees will be reviewed and updated annually.