Non-NHS Work

Please see the bottom of this page for our non-NHS fees.

Private Fees (Non-NHS Work)

When requesting non-NHS letters or asking to fill in a form you will be asked to pay a fee.

What is non-NHS work and why is there a fee?

The Government’s contract with GPs covers medical services to NHS patients but not non-NHS work. In recent years, however, 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 ensure that information provided to them is true and accurate.

Do GPs have to do non-NHS work for their patients?

With certain limited exceptions, for example a GP confirming that one of their patients is not fit for jury service, GPs do not have to carry out non-NHS work on behalf of their patients. Whilst GPs will always attempt to assist their patients with the completion of forms, they are not required to do such non-NHS work.

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

The British Medical Association (BMA) suggest fees that GPs may charge their patients for non-NHS work (i.e. work not covered under their contract with the NHS) in order to help GPs set their own professional fees. However, the fees suggested by them are intended for guidance only; they are not recommendations and a doctor is not obliged to charge the rates they suggest.

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 and paperwork takes up an increasing amount of their time so many GPs find they have to complete this work outside of and in additional to their normal hours. Our GPs do non-NHS work out of NHS time at evenings or weekends so that NHS patient care does not suffer.

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 (the doctors’ regulatory body) or even the Police.

If you are a new patient we may not have your medical records so the doctor must wait for these before completing the form.

What will I be charged?

It is recommended that GPs tell patients in advance if they will be charged, and what the fee will be. It is up to individual doctors to decide how much they will charge. The surgery has a lists of fees based on these suggested fees which is available on request.

What can I do to help?

Not all documents need a 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. Read the information that comes with these types of forms carefully before requesting your GP to complete them.
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 at the same time to speed up the process.
Do not expect your GP to process forms overnight: urgent requests may mean that a doctor has to make special arrangements to process the form quickly, and this may cost more. Usually non-NHS work will take up to 20 working days following receipt of payment.

What non-NHS work do we NOT do?

Fitness to compete in activities certificates

According to the BMA “even if a thorough history, examination and any necessary investigations are carried out, doctors are still not in a position to guarantee that a patient is fit for a particular activity”.

As a result, we are unable to sign or provide these certificates. We would recommend you seek a specialist private GP to complete these forms for you.

Firearm Licence certificates

The BMA strongly supports the Government’s overall message, that gun ownership is a privilege and not a right, and that firearms must be in the hands of only those who are deemed safe and responsible. Legal responsibility for monitoring fire arms holders rests with the police. We, as a practice, have chosen not to engage in the firearms certification process on grounds of conscientious objection because of ethical beliefs. Therefore we do not provide these certificates. We do not need to arrange for alternative provision of a report, as per the BMA. Those who require such a certificate need this to be done by a GMC-registered doctor and there are a variety of private options for those that need to get this done.

Freedom from Infection certificates

These certificates are often requested for travel or employment purposes. Often further investigations are needed for these certificates, which do not fall under the remit of NHS services. We would recommend that you seek a private GP to complete these forms for you.

Fitness to Fly letters

GPs are encouraged by the GMC to “work within the limits of [our] competence” As we are not specially training in aviation medicine and are not insured for this work, we are unable to state whether patients are Fit to Fly. This often affects our pregnant women. We no longer have access to the pregnancy notes for our pregnant patients and are so not even able to write a statement of fact regarding the pregnancy. As a result we strongly encourage our pregnant patients to obtain such letters from their midwife.

Please review our list of Non NHS work that we offer at the practice, which attract a fee. This includes certificates, forms, medical examinations and various travel vaccinations.

Our Process:

Please ensure that you complete all the necessary personal details on the form which need to be filled in yourself before submitting the form.
Following receipt of form, our administrator will check to confirm if this is something that we can complete. Please note that reception staff are unable to confirm this at the front desk. We do not undertake the following non-NHS work:

Firearm Certificates
“Fitness to” letters
Passport countersignature

3. We will contact you via email (if we have your consent to contact you via email) with confirmation of the fee for completing this work. Otherwise we will post the invoice to you. Payment can be made via bank transfer, cash, cheque or by card payment machine at reception. All fees must be paid in advance of work being completed. If you are paying us by bank transfer please ensure that you email confirmation of this to us.

4. On receipt of payment, the form is passed on to the relevant GP to complete. We aim to complete non-NHS work within 20 working days following receipt of payment but this may take longer due to NHS workload. On completion, we will contact you to ascertain how you would like us to send back the completed form.

Charges to patients: Non-NHS Fees (July 2024)

To whom it may concern

£35

Insurance claim for sickness/accident/school fees

£50

Travel insurance cancellation

£50

HGV/LGV/PSV/Taxi Medical

£165

Comprehensive examination including report, certificate or necessary forms

£165

Report without examination

£50

Adoption – Form C, D, YP, AME Full examination of child

£97.91

Adoption- IHA or Form R

£58.12

Adoption Form M, B Obstetric Neonatal Report

£44.95

Adult Health Assessment for Adoption, Fostering & Special Guardianship

£80.00

Fostering & Adoption AH1 Health Assessment

£80.47

Fostering & Adoption AH2 Update Report

£26.54

Ofsted Health Declaration – Child Minders

£87.50

Ofsted Health Declaration – Other Health Professional