OLD STREET, CLEVEDON BS21 6DG
Tel 01275 335666/335680

Non-NHS Private Work

Version:	Review date:	Edited by:	Approved by:	Comments:	
1	2/4/2025	Debbie Gadd	Dr Annie Streeton	New Policy 2/4/2024	
2	23/9/2025	Debbie Gadd		Price increase to Rabies	
3	1/4/2025	Debbie Gadd	Dr Annie Streeton	Price increase 25/26	

Clevedon Medical Centre receive a whole range of requests from patients, these requests now come to us largely through our AccuRx where patients can submit online Admin requests, but we also get patients hand in a lot of forms.  Lots also arrive direct from insurers via email.

The request is forwarded to the Secretarial team who keep a ‘PMA spreadsheet’ to keep a record of all the PMA work that has come in. The secretaries then do the following:

1.	Make the patient aware of the cost of the document/ letter they have requested.
2.	If agreed the request is put in a file and handed to the patient’s named GP.
3.	A comment is made in Care History of who the paperwork has been passed to
4.	When the paperwork has been returned from the GP, the documents are posted, or the patient is rung to collect if there is an invoice to settle, and the care history and spreadsheet are updated.

The general expectation is that this work is turned around by the GP within 1-month, although the majority is done within 1-2 weeks.

Fees for Non-NHS Services	
Requests that are not chargeable	
Access to health records/ copy of paper records- this is a ‘Subject Access Request’ and should go through Medi2data	Free	
Council tax exemptions	Free	
DWP Medical reports:	Free	
-	ESA/ UC forms (FRR2)		
-	PIP forms		
-	DVLA/ AA forms		
Private referral letter	Free	
DS1500/SR1 form just called SR1 now	Free	
Certificates	
Private sick note	£40	
To whom it may concern letter (child)	£10	
To whom it may concern letter (short)	£30	
To whom it may concern letter (complex)	£50	
Firearms license application	£120	
		
Insurance Claim Forms and Reports	
Private health insurance claim form (e.g. BUPA)	£55	
Sickness/ accident insurance Certificate	£55	
Holiday cancellation claim form	£40	
OFSTED report for child-minders (client to pay)	£50-£95 depending on complexity	
Typed report from medical records	£40-£90	
Solicitors’ report/ opinion form	£120	
Report for insurance companies	£110	
Adoption and Fostering
Form AH – health assessment on a prospective carer
Form AH2 – update report on parent/carer
Initial Examination
Forms M/B – obstetric report/neo natal report
Forms IHA-C and IHA-YP
Forms RHA-C and RHA-YP	
£73.86
£24.36
£37.99
£44.95
£215
£150	
Medical Examinations	
HGV, Taxi driver, pre-employment	£140	
Elderly Driver Fitness form and examination	£120	
Sports medicals including racing driver, jockey etc	£120	
Medical Report with an examination in surgery	£142	
Other Items	
Consultation following RTA	£30	
Private Blood test	From £30	
Private script	£30	
Paternity test 	Cost varies depending on how many family members.  The cost is covered by Cellmark.	
Letter for an airline to confirm medications and what they are for	£50	
Freedom from infection letter (for schools, travel, employment)	£40	
School Fees insurance certificates	£57	
Health club report to certify that a patient is fit for exercise	  We do not do this; we can however provide a summary of health conditions and medication taken free of charge	
Employment – report on pro forma, no examination	£95	
Written report (detailed)	£110	
Vaccinations (travel vaccinations only)	
Meningitis per dose	£65	
Hep B for travellers per dose	£55	
Hep Course for medical school (3 x hep B, blood test, booster)	£300	
Hep course for 4	£250	
Rabies course 3	£255	
Japanese Encephalitis per dose	£95	
Shingles	£190	
Men B for children per dose	£150	
Nurse consultation fee for vaccines	£35	
Private GP consultation	£80	

Why do I have to pay? 
The NHS provides most health services free of charge (although there are some exceptions such as prescription charges). For the areas that are not covered by the NHS there is a private fee, this is in place to cover the responsibility and time spent by doctors and administrative staff to complete the work. The British Medical Association (BMA) provides a guide to the fees that GPs can charge. We aim to keep the charges for our services at a fair level. 
What is and isn’t covered? 
The Government’s contract with GP surgeries covers all forms from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), examples include Personal Independence payment (PIP) forms and Attendance allowance (AA) forms (and many more). These forms are sent directly to the GP, so the patient does not need to worry about this. 
Anything you have been asked to request from the GP yourself, such as an extra ‘supporting letter’ will be non-contractual work for the GP surgery and it is likely that you will be asked to pay a fee, so it is worth being clear if that extra letter is needed.
Fit notes – “Med3” medical certificates
Please read this helpful explanation of the regulations regarding time off work due to ill-health on the government website, you are also able to download a self-certificate if you have been off for seven days or less.

Doctors are not permitted to issue a backdated note which pre-dates your first assessment for the condition. For example, if you suffer from a flu-like illness and miss two weeks of work but only contact us at the end of that period for the purpose of obtaining a note, the practice cannot issue a backdated note to cover that second week of absence. Requests for notes are not medically urgent and so can take time to be processed, please make sure to contact us by sending an AccuRx form in good time (before you want the sicknote done). We can however backdate notes if you have been off long-term sick.
If you are under a hospital specialist for the condition that is making you unable to work, it is the specialist who is obliged to provide your certificate. Sometimes they, or their colleagues, will tell you that the GP will do it, but it is their responsibility as they are the ones with detailed knowledge of your condition and are best placed to provide the detail on the certificate. The same thing applies to having surgery, the surgical team should provide you with the appropriate sicknote before you leave hospital.
If your employer requests a doctor’s certificate for periods less than seven days, or a return to work note, these are not covered by the regulations and are deemed to be a private letter and as such will incur a fee.
Supporting letters for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) applications
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) staff and Citizens’ Advice Bureau staff sometimes suggest patients request a “supporting letter” from their GP. These sorts of letters are not necessary and are not covered by the NHS GP contract, this means there is no time or funding provided for these letters and so you would be charged to have these letters written.

As the DWP will usually write to us anyway if they need extra information, a process which is free of charge, it is practice policy not to supply extra ‘supporting letters. Instead, we are very happy to provide printout summaries of your notes/ medical diagnoses/ medications which can be submitted to the DWP as supporting evidence and will be given to you free of charge.

Notes for school or university- absence through illness
If a university asks for a letter from a doctor to confirm illness/ reasons for absence, then the University must request this in writing accompanied by a signed consent form from the patient. We can then complete the letter and will invoice the University. If requested by the patient, the invoice will be sent to the patient as this work is not covered by the NHS GP contract.
BMA statement regarding school ‘sicknotes’:
GPs do not provide sick notes for schoolchildren. When children are absent from school owing to illness, schools may request a letter from a parent or guardian, and this is no different during an exam period. However, children who have missed exams due to illness are frequently told by schools that a note from a doctor is required; but this cannot be provided by a GP. Parents/guardians are responsible for excusing their children from school. Aside from the fact that parents/guardians are responsible for excusing their children from school, GPs cannot provide retrospective sickness certification. When a child suffers from a long-term condition, any certification will be provided by the responsible specialist.
Lasting Power of Attorney and Court of Protection “Deputy” applications
LPAs do not require completion by a doctor (or solicitor for that matter). The Donor must have capacity to apply, and friends can act as witnesses. LPAs can now be submitted online which is convenient for some people. We have a practice policy not to do this work as it is not a part of the NHS GP contract and so a fee would need to be charged (as these forms take a significant amount of GP time to complete).
Some misconceptions (Blue badges, diamond badges, housing letters)

There are common misconceptions about the need for a GP letter in various situations, particularly in the case of blue badges, passport applications, letters to the housing council trust and diamond badge applications. None of these letters are covered by the NHS GP contract and so we do not have the time or funding to allocate to it, this therefore means that there is a fee attached.

In most cases these letters are not needed, so we would advise you avoid requesting them and incurring the fee. Instead, we are very happy to provide a print-out of your medical record including a list of your medical diagnoses and your medications, and this would be free of charge.