Certainly is not Jel. Nothing has changed. We would also spend all of this
time and not get a bean for it! Don't know who charged her, but if a GP, was
in breach of terms of service - whether a private or NHS referral - you
cannot charge. The only thing that can be charged is if the referral had
been a private one, and she submitted a BUPA form for completion to her GP
to reclaim the costs of a private referral. I suspect that this is what she
means - at £30.00 possibly high end of the norm though. The fee is NOT for
the referral, it is for the form to be submitted to BUPA or whoever to say
why she had been referred and giving details of PMH. It can take a time to
complete.
Best wishes
Paul Bromley
-----Original Message-----
From: GP-UK [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jel Coward
Sent: 05 October 2005 21:13
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: True? Allowed?
Hi all
THis from a Canadian list. Could it be correct?
<paste>
My new receptionist immigrated to Canada from England less than 2 years
ago. We were just talking about the difficulty I'm having trying to find
a psychiatrist for a 17 year old suicidal patient - so far we've tried 8
- when I observed wryly that I don't receive one extra cent for the
trouble. She then told me that in England, patients are charged an
'administration fee' by their GPs for referral to a specialist. Before
she left she had been charged 30 pounds (about $65) for a referral to a
gynaecologist! This from the very cradle of socialized medicine!
</paste>
Jel
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