Kate and others
Although I am not, never have been and never will be a GP, I think the
distinction of whether you are charged or not, comes down to whether or not
you are asking for an opinion and/or report. I am not aware of any
regulation applicable to GPs which states they should not charge in the
circumstances you outline and would love to know if there was one as we
could save ourselves a fortune!
I would have thought that if you are asking for an opinion and/or report
then the provider of that report is entitled to charge for providing it. I
think there were a number of previous anomalies in previous legislation
pertaining to medical records which were superseded by the DPA though I am
not sure of the details.
I would be intrigued at others opinions.
Lindsey
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kate Venables" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 5:16 PM
Subject: GP's ts and cs in relation to occupational disease
Dear all - can anyone help resolve a matter of discussion between myself and
a colleague? Especially any of you who have worked as a GP. I understood
that it was part of a GP's terms and conditions that no fee was chargable
for work which related to the diagnosis of potential occupational disease in
their patients. I have a feeling I first heard this from Sherwood Burge in
relation to the diagnosis of potential occupational asthma. My colleague
understands that there is such a regulation but that it relates only to
those patients of a GP who work for the NHS.
The reason why this came up is in the context of university occupational
health - our main occupational diseases are occupational asthma, WRULD and
stress (if you count stress). I have been at times surprised to be asked
for a fee for a letter when I have initiated communications with a staff
member's GP about, say, occupational asthma. Most GPs don't charge, in my
experience, for letters which are part of an exchange about a potential
occupational disease. But some seem to do so - and I don't think they
should!
Best wishes - Kate
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