Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of waiving fees charged by GP surgeries for (a) medical evidence letters, (b) certificates and (c) reports that are required by HM Passport Office to show that a patient has a disability that prevents them from attending a passport interview.

There are some medical evidence letters, certificates, or reports that general practices (GPs) may charge for, and others that they must not charge patients for. The legislation that sets this out is the General Medical Services and Personal Medical Services Regulations, which form the basis of the GP Contract with the National Health Service. There is no statutory limit to the level of such fees, as this is outside of core NHS work.

The Professional Fees Committee of the British Medical Association suggests guideline fees for such services, to help doctors set their own professional fees.

We are continuing to work across Government to cut red tape and improve ways of working, including work to improve the patient experience, such as removing the need to request unnecessary medical evidence where possible.