How Do I - Get a form completed or signed

The doctor is able to sign and complete forms and claims on your behalf. However, these often carry a charge. Please ask the receptionist if you wish to know the amount - they are displayed in the reception area. Some of these charges may be claimable from your employer or insurance companies.

Examples of forms are:

• Private sick notes
• Holiday cancellation
• Private letters
• Insurance claims
• Driving licence application
• Passport photographs

Some forms carry no charge, such as a DLA form.

Please leave these forms with the receptionist who will pass them on to the doctor. The doctor has a heavy workload and will not be able to treat such forms as priority over ill patients. You therefore, need to leave a week before your form is available for collection.

Non NHS Business Reports and Fees

As part of our work doctors are often asked to provide evidence about patient's health and fitness to outside bodies. For example you may need a medical report for an HGV or PSV licence or for mortgage or insurance purposes. Other examples are holiday cancellation forms.

As doctors we cannot write reports about you without your express consent in writing. In practice however patients are unlikely to be able to object to a report being written unless they are willing to give up a benefit or insurance claim. (i.e. money talks). As a patient you have a right to see any report written about you before it is sent to the third party. If you wish to add comments or corrections you can do so. In practice most reports are about routine matters and pretty dull reading. So far we have had very few patients who have exercised their rights to comment on reports. If however you are keen to see a report before it is sent away please let us know and you are welcome to read it.

Ongoing disability insurance claims generate a large amount of form filling.

The benefit office supplies an endless stream of forms. On average each doctor completes one or two medical report forms every day.

The key point about this work is that it is not covered by the NHS. We also charge for letters written on a patient's behalf to a third party. Before you ask a doctor for a letter on your behalf think carefully about whether it is needed at all, and whether it is worth paying for the letter. The days of free letters have now gone.

If you are not sure about the cost of a letter please speak to your doctor and ask about the charges. (Usually £13 - £20 for a simple short letter).