Humble pie!
I am afraid I have given you wrong information about charging patients for
influenza immunisation. Your inability to charge fees for immunisations
other than those related to travel outside the United Kingdom where no fee
is payable by the HA, is stated in The National Health Service (General
Medical Services) Regulations 1992, on page 88, section 38 of SCHEDULE 2
Terms of Service for Doctors.
You may not charge private fees to patients who are on your NHS list, except
for the items listed in the Schedule which is unfortunately specific in
allowing you only to charge for immunisations related to foreign travel.
It does appear that your only avenue to obtain any remuneration for
immunising your own NHS patients against flu, including the worried well, is
through the supply of the vaccine under paragraph 44.5 rules. Since there is
still no Red Book fee for hepatitis B ( as opposed to infectious hepatitis)
vaccination, you can currently charge a fee if the immunisation is related
to foreign travel, but not otherwise.
My apologies. I will do what I can to try and get the rules changed.
Peter Fellows.
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