We can provide a number of letters (To Whom It May Concern, TWIMC), reports and certificates for our registered patients. Some services are free through the NHS but for non-NHS services, we charge a fee. See the Non-NHS services listed below to see the fees we charge.

 

Non-NHS services we provide

In line with the British Medical Association guidance, we charge for the completion of some non-NHS medical reports, letters, and certificates. Typically these requests come from insurance companies, employers, or from our patients directly and include the types of letters, reports and certificates that are not funded by the NHS. This work does not form part of our NHS contract and as such, we charge for these services to cover the cost of the administrative and clinical time required to complete them. 

As this work is not a contractual obligation and we must prioritise delivery of our NHS care, we aim to but may not always be able to complete your request within our timeframes. In some cases, an appointment may be required prior to a report being actioned, or we may need to request records from PCSE which can take several weeks, please factor this in when making a request. Letters are only done during a consultation. These are not regulatory SLAs (Service Level Agreements) and we may need longer to complete requests, so please leave enough time for these requests to be completed, but we will aim to complete:

• Medical reports/certificates/forms - we aim to complete these in 30 working days from receipt of payment;
• Letters - we aim to complete these in 5 working days from receipt of payment;
• Invoices - we aim to send these within 2 working days from the request coming into the Medical Reports team. 

You will be sent an invoice to the email you have set up on your account and the link will be open for 5 days. Please ensure your email address on your account is correct, check your spam/junk folder for the invoice email and that you request your letter/report etc. with enough time to complete the request.

If you do not pay within the 5 days, you will need to contact support to request a new invoice to be generated and sent to you.

Please note: Do not contact our support team if your request is within our SLA. You will be informed it is within SLA and no further action will be taken. If you need to have your request expedited, this will be reviewed on a case by case basis and will incur an additional fee up to double the standard price below. If you require further information than what is required on your letter, this may then become a detailed medical report and the fee and timeframe for these will apply.

A detailed table of reports and letters that we provide is outlined below, although this is not exhaustive. Our prices are reviewed regularly against British Medical Association Guidance and are subject to change.

Services we don’t provide

We reserve the right to not complete some non-NHS reports/certificates/forms. When you submit a request for a report/certificate/form to be completed and it is not something we can provide for you, a member of the support team will be in touch to let you know. There are a few services that we are unfortunately unable to provide including:

• Scuba diving forms
• Acting as a referee for a passport application
• Letters for court:
  • We will not provide a letter for court unless the court or solicitor provides us with the relevant forms to complete.
• Marathon certificates 
  • We are only able to offer a statement of fact with a disclaimer for your marathon/fitness event. 
  • In order to obtain this, you would need to book a digital appointment with a GP who will review your NHS medical record to review any possible documented reasons why you should or should not take part. We are unable to offer any face-to-face diagnostic testing, please refer to a  sports medicine specialist if this is required. If the event is less than 10 days away from the date of your digital GP appointment we will not be able to guarantee that we can complete the letter before your event, but you will still be charged. Please refer to a private sports medicine specialist if this is time critical.
  • We charge £45 for these letters. We do not offer a refund if the event declines to accept the letter.
  • If you are in any doubt, you should ask a private sports medicine specialist to complete these forms.

 

 

Outsourcing of private work requests

Here at GP at Hand, we have decided to outsource our private work requests to an NHS Digital accredited company called MediData. They will create and complete a large number of our private medical requests on our behalf. This will reduce pressure on the GP’s, improve GP capacity and ensure all reports are completed in a timely and efficient manner.

 

What is eMR/MediData?

MediData is a NHS Digital accredited company who have developed a digital system called eMR, which enables GP practices to create digital, GDPR compliant medical reports. eMR helps GP Surgeries with data security, speed and efficiency. eMR also helps you to easily see your medical data, stay in control of it and decide who you want to share it with.

MediData has worked hard to develop their NHS GP IT Futures accredited technology, eMR, which interfaces with our GP practice’s system to extract your medical record. This means you can receive a full copy of that information securely and share it with others as you wish, keeping your data safe.

MediData has agreements with third parties/insurers who accept their reports. If for any reason a report is not accepted, please contact them directly in order to resolve.

 

If you wish to speak to a member of the MediData team regarding your medical report, or any concerns you may have regarding your data, please contact MediData directly on:

Phone – 0333 3055 774

Email – connect@medi2data.com

 

 

Frequently asked questions

“Why do I have to pay?”

The preparation of these letters or reports is not covered by the NHS. The letters/reports/forms are completed outside of NHS tasks and as such there is a fee payable. All of these tasks require the doctor to take time to review a patient’s medical records to ensure that the information provided is correct, the letter/report/form then has to be generated and sent to the patient and/or third party.

 

“How long will it take?”

Private letters/reports/certificates etc. do not take priority over NHS work and hence may take some time to prepare. Please allow at least 5 working days for letters and 30 working days for reports from receipt of payment and be aware that these are not regulatory SLAs and depending on workload, may take longer. If it’s required sooner than that, it will be reviewed on a case by case basis and may attract a higher fee in order to be expedited.

 

“I need it today/tomorrow/next week/sooner”

In genuinely urgent cases, we will do our best to meet your deadline; however, we cannot promise this and expedited letters may incur an additional fee. Please ensure you leave enough time for your request and submit it as soon as possible.

 

“I only need the doctor’s signature”

When a doctor signs a certificate or completes a report it is a condition of remaining on the Medical Register that they only sign what they know to be true.

To complete even the simplest of forms, the doctor might have to check the patient’s entire medical record. Carelessness or an inaccurate report can have serious consequences for the doctor with the General Medical Council (the doctors’ regulatory body) or even the police.

 

“I need an amendment to the letter I’ve received”

If an amendment to a letter is required, this needs to be done by the clinician who wrote the letter. Please book an appointment with that clinician and they will make the decision on the amendment. There is usually no extra charge for this but only if the request is within reason. We will usually accept two minor amendments before we deem the letter to be a new request and will charge accordingly.

 

“The doctor has to write these exact words…” 

We are very sorry, but we usually cannot accept requests for the doctor to write the letter in a specific way. The doctor will write what they know is supported by your medical record, and reserve the right to refuse your request or provide alternative wording.

 

Please note: Our doctors can only provide letters or reports which are factually accurate based on your medical records. They cannot modify them based on individual preferences or requirements. If you request changes to letters or reports which do not match your medical records, your request will not be actioned.