Non-NHS Services & Fees
Forms, letters and reports that fall outside NHS-funded care.
The NHS provides most healthcare free of charge. However, some services aren't covered by the NHS and have a private fee. This page explains what to expect, and how fees are worked out. Payment is needed in advance for all private forms and reports, before we start work on them.
Why We Charge for Some Services
GPs aren’t employed by the NHS directly. We run our practice like a small business, and we pay for our own staff, building, heating and equipment. NHS funding covers the care we give to our registered patients during normal hours.
Some tasks— like filling in insurance forms, signing official documents, or writing letters for non-medical reasons — aren’t funded by the NHS. This kind of paperwork takes time away from patient care, and it’s usually done outside normal hours. This is why GPs across the UK, including us, charge a fee for it.
To find out more about why doctors charge fees, see the British Medical Association (BMA) website at www.bma.org.uk/pay-and-contracts/fees.
Our fees broadly follow BMA guidance. You can see them below, and a copy is also available at reception. Fees are reviewed from time to time and may change.
How Long It Takes
How long a form or letter takes depends on how complex it is, and how much of your medical record needs to be checked.
GPs have busy clinical workloads. Non-NHS paperwork is done outside normal NHS hours, so it can't be prioritised over patient care. Thank you for your patience — we'll try to keep you updated.
Accuracy Matters
Some reports take longer because the GP needs to check your full medical record. Getting this right matters as mistakes or missing information could have serious consequences.
We can’t give personal opinions in these reports. A letter or form can only include facts that are already in your medical notes.
Our Fees
A Note on Insurance Requests
Your Subject Access Request (SAR) is always free — this is your legal right under UK GDPR, and it doesn’t change if an insurance company asks you to make one. We will never charge you for accessing your own medical record.
If an insurance company asks us directly for a medical report about you, this is a different process, covered by a separate law called the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988. This kind of report has to be specially written by the GP, which is why there is a fee for it (shown in the table above).
If we receive a request like this, we’ll always contact you first to explain what’s being asked for. You can choose to see your own record yourself, free of charge, rather than have it sent straight to the insurer.
Things We Don't Provide
Passport and Naturalisation Applications
- Not every document needs a GP's signature. Passport applications, for example, can often be countersigned by someone else in a recognised position of trust, free of charge.
- For passport or naturalisation applications, the GP needs to have known you — or, for a child, the parents — long enough to recognise you from a photo.
- The GP may decline to sign if they don't know you well enough to do this confidently.
Our Position on Non-NHS Work
We’ll always try to help where we can, but non-NHS work isn’t something GPs are contractually required to do. If we’re not able to help with a particular request, we’ll always tell you clearly and explain why.
Before asking for a private letter or report, it’s worth checking whether you can already get the information through a subject access request.
How to Request a Non-NHS Service
- Contact us here or by email to check if we can provide the service and confirm the fee.
- Payment of the agreed fee is needed before we start any work. We'll tell you how to pay when you make your request.
- Once we've received payment, your request will be logged and given to the right GP.
- We'll let you know when your document is ready to collect or has been sent.
Urgent help
Emergency? Call 999.
When we're closed, call NHS 111 or visit 111.nhs.uk.