Fees for non-General Medical Services

The Practice has a commitment to provide general medical services to all our patients, and this is covered under the NHS. However certain services are not provided under the NHS and in these cases the doctors can charge a fee.

The Surgery is unable to oblige with any ‘Occupational Health’ services / Hep B injections etc.

Unfortunately often there are no standard forms and occasionally we will not be able to quote a price without viewing the form and assessing what information is required. In these cases please liaise with a member of staff.

The Surgery aims to keep all these additional expenses to only those necessary, or as requested by the patient.

All payments to the surgery must be made at the time of the request.

Cheque or Cash – please make cheques payable to Gudge Heath Lane Surgery. Card payments accepted at the Surgery reception desk.

Requests For Completion Of Forms To Participate In A Particular Activity / ‘Fit/Unfit To’ Certification

The surgery is unable to oblige with any of these requests

Such as Fit/Unfit To: Fly, Dive, Skydive, Parachute Jump, Bungee Jump, Run a Marathon, etc.)

As General Practitioners, our GPs are not able to certify you as ‘Fit/Unfit To’ participate in any of the above. This is because in order to accurately assess your fitness, a specially qualified clinician is most appropriately placed to do this and can perform any required investigations (such as an ECG, 24 hour blood pressure monitoring, etc.). We would recommend that you find a suitable private service offering this assessment.

Alternatively, we can provide you with a summary of your medical record (detailing your past medical history and current medication). Organisations are increasingly asking doctors to take responsibility for the safety of people completing a number of activities. Examples of these include extreme or dangerous sports, travel to exotic locations or travel with an existing medical condition.

It is not possible for doctors to predict the future and they cannot guarantee that a medical problem will not occur while undertaking these activities. Unfortunately a number of doctors have been taken to court about forms that they have signed and one doctor has been asked to pay for the cost of an aeroplane diverting due to a medical emergency when they had signed a ‘fit to fly’ form.

If you wish us to complete these forms for you they must be handed into the reception team with written consent and any explanatory notes that you think may be helpful. It must also be understood that these from will not take priority over treating people who are unwell so there may be a delay whilst your doctor considers the request.

It is important to understand that your doctor may not be able to sign the form, you may in some circumstances you may be offered an alternative such as a letter explaining your medical condition or a summary of your medical record. Sometimes it may be advised that you need to seek a specialist opinion and again this could take a significant amount of time.

None of this work is paid for by the NHS so there will be a charge for any report or form completed by a doctor at the practice and any specialist opinion will need to be organised and paid for privately.