Medical certificates and reports
July 2004
Non-NHS work
There are a number of reports that may be done on behalf of other government agencies or organisations that are outside of the statutory DWP certificates or collaborative agreements. GPs do not have a contractual obligation to fill in these reports and all attract a fee. There are various Fees Schedules covering the rates GPs can charge for this work on the BMA website (only BMA members can access these at present) - go to www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/Hubaskfees. It is the remit of the Professional Fees Committee to negotiate these fees on behalf of doctors where appropriate. When the Professional Fees Committee is responsible for the negotiation process the fees are linked to GPs’ net remuneration and must be ‘agreed’ with third party organisations.
The BMA has been given permission by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to continue to publish suggested rates for work which can only be completed by a patient’s own GP or partners. Such non-NHS work can cover a range of issues from filling in cremation forms, completing OFSTED reports for childminders or providing reports for insurance companies.