Non-NHS Services
Some services provided are not covered under our contract with the NHS and therefore attract charges. Examples include the following:
- Medicals for pre-employment, sports and driving requirements (HGV, PSV etc.)
- Insurance claim forms
- Private sick notes
- Vaccination certificates/printouts
The fees charged are based on the British Medical Association (BMA) suggested scales and our reception staff will be happy to advise you about them along with appointment availability.
Explanation of tasks to be performed for the production of any non-NHS report
The following notes have been prepared by the Chairman of the BMA Professional Fees Committee. The purpose of is to explain the various tasks, which are normally undertaken by a GP practice when a request for a non-NHS report is received. These steps are as follows:
- Mail to be opened by Secretary
- Correspondence to be read by Secretary to check that all relevant paperwork has actually arrived
- Check that patients consent, where appropriate is signed
- Log the arrival of the document in the Practice System
- Notes to be searched, pulled and married up with the information request
- Records and request to be allocated to a doctor
- Doctor to assimilate contents of request, confirm patient consent to divulge if in order
- Ascertain whether or not the Access to Medical reports, Data Protection Act or Access to Health Records Act, applies
- Read the entire general practitioner notes and the entire hospital letters and laboratory results contained within the patient record
- Formulate appropriate reply, either in writing or by dictation
- Records (if manually held) and draft response to be returned to Secretary
- Type report us as draft
- Notes (if manually held) back to doctor together with draft for checking and amendment
- Notes (if manually held) and amended draft back to Secretary
- Typing up of final report
- Notes (if manually held) and final report back to doctor for checking and signature
- Notes (if manually held) back to Secretary
- Photocopies to be kept in practice record system
- Report to be held for 21 days in accordance with Access to Medical Records Act or similar
- Make diary entry of bring forward date to post completed report
- Complete payment claim form, log out date of postage or report to relevant authority
- Chase the payment, if appropriate
- Receive either payment schedule form requesting authority and reconcile with bank statement, or receive payable order/cheque and arrange banking
As can be seen, there are a considerable number of administrative, financial and legal duties consistent with the professional processing of any request for a report coming in to a practice. The above 23 points assume that at no point does the patient either need seen clinically, or request, as is their right under the various legislation, access to the report or the notes. Nor do any of the above take any account of archiving costs consequent upon the generation of any report. Consequently, an appropriate administration charge in view of the above is not an unreasonable request before the professional time and expertise is also taken in to account in producing the report.