- Posts: 51288
Medical Notes for appeal
- jayney B
- Topic Author
today i went to my Gp surgery to get a copy of my medical notes and was asked to pay £40 !!!!!! I have already forked out £10 for a GP supporting letter already. I also have requested my records from the NHS Phyciatric hospital who when i proved i was on benefits wavared the fee how on earth can a person on assesment rate ESA afford these fees when im finding it hard enough to feed myself on £67.50 a week.My GPs surgery know im on benefits and are adament i must pay the £40 how can you succeed in winning an appeal when you cant afford to get the supporting evidence to support your claim
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- bro58
hi
today i went to my Gp surgery to get a copy of my medical notes and was asked to pay £40 !!!!!! I have already forked out £10 for a GP supporting letter already. I also have requested my records from the NHS Phyciatric hospital who when i proved i was on benefits wavared the fee how on earth can a person on assesment rate ESA afford these fees when im finding it hard enough to feed myself on £67.50 a week.My GPs surgery know im on benefits and are adament i must pay the £40 how can you succeed in winning an appeal when you cant afford to get the supporting evidence to support your claim
Hi jB,
Unfortunately G.P.'s practices can and do charge for this service.
It does seem to vary though, when I requested copy of my medical records, I got them within 10 days all on a password protected CD, for a fee of £20, my G.P. and Consultants also provided letters of support free of charge.
Another alternative sometimes available is for the patients to view their records at the G.P.'s surgery, and ask for photocopies of any relevant extracts, therefore cutting down on the cost.
G.P.'s and Consultants are not contractually obligated to provide their patients with letters of support.
Some do it willingly free of charge, some charge a fee, and some will not do it at all.
I believe that sometimes advice agencies such as CAB will obtain medical evidence for their clients and foot the bill.
bro58
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Gordon
- Offline
To provide copies of patient health records the maximum costs are:
Health records held electronically: up to a maximum £10 charge.
Health records held in part electronically and in part on other media (paper, x-ray film): up to a maximum £50 charge.
Health records held totally on other media: up to a maximum £50 charge.
All these maximum charges include postage and packaging costs. Any charges for access requests should not be made in order to make a financial gain.
To allow patients to view their health records (where no copy is required) the maximum costs are:
Health records held electronically: a maximum of £10
Health records held in part on computer and in part on other media: a maximum of £10
Health records held entirely on other media: up to a maximum £10 charge, unless the records have been added to in the last 40 days in which case there should be no charge.
Note: if a person wishes to view their health records and then wants to be provided with copies this would still come under the one access request. The £10 maximum fee for viewing would be included within the £50 maximum fee for copies of health records, held in part on computer and in part manually.
source: www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_d...lasset/dh_113206.pdf paragraph 18.
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Crazydiamond
- Offline
- Posts: 2022
hi
today i went to my Gp surgery to get a copy of my medical notes and was asked to pay £40 !!!!!! I have already forked out £10 for a GP supporting letter already. I also have requested my records from the NHS Phyciatric hospital who when i proved i was on benefits wavared the fee how on earth can a person on assesment rate ESA afford these fees when im finding it hard enough to feed myself on £67.50 a week.My GPs surgery know im on benefits and are adament i must pay the £40 how can you succeed in winning an appeal when you cant afford to get the supporting evidence to support your claim
See this thread HERE.
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- TCP
- Offline
- Posts: 176
I do believe that she will comply when CAB contact her. I was more than willing to pay. I think some doctors are better than others.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- DRAGON2009
- Offline
- Posts: 654
If you can stretch to the cost of accessing and obtaining copies of your records., always do it. These are some of the most vital documents to anyone on ESA/IB/DLA
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.