Following on from Margarita's reply (and concurring with much of it), if
experience in relation to benefits is anything to go by this can be expected
to be more and more of a problem. Some GPs will see providing supporting
letters or certification as part of the job, but those who do not are
perfectly entitled to refuse or to charge. As some in student areas may be
hit with hundreds of requests a year, the sums involved are potentially
quite large. At the end of the academic year (and especially in later years
of the course) a student who has to meet such a charge faces hard choices
while hardship funds may not be available.
I have found that those few medical practitioners who raise the problem will
generally relent if the situation is explained, but I have heard from
colleagues outside working on benefit appeals that they find it increasingly
difficult to get medical evidence.
Paul
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