Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department gives guidance to GPs on what fee should be charged for providing evidence letters for patients who are making a claim for disability benefits.

Under the terms of their contract for the provision of NHS primary medical services, general practitioners (GPs) are required to provide certain prescribed medical reports, such as those required to prove incapacity to work, free of charge to their registered patients.

Outside of this, it is at the discretion of the individual GP to decide whether he or she charges for this service and, if so, how much.

The Department does not issue guidance on fees for letters. The Professional Fees Committee of the British Medical Association (BMA) suggests fees for such services to help doctors set their own professional fees. However, these fees are guidelines only, and a doctor is not obliged to charge the rates suggested. Where doctors intend to charge for services to patients, the BMA advises them to forewarn patients, at the earliest opportunity, of the likely level of fees.