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<p>NHS England contracts with general practitioners (GPs) as independent providers
of medical services for the National Health Service. Under the terms of their contract,
GPs are required to provide certain medical reports or complete certain forms, including
those related to claiming disability benefits, free of charge to their registered
patients.</p><p> </p><p>Outside their contractual requirements, GPs also offer a variety
of other services which successive governments have regarded as private matters between
the patient and the GP. In such cases, decisions on whether to charge a fee and the
level of the fee charged are at the GP’s discretion.</p><p> </p><p>Where GPs intend
to charge for services to patients, the British Medical Association (BMA) advises
them to forewarn patients, at the earliest opportunity, of the likely level of fees.
The BMA also produces guidance on the level of fees that should be charged for commonly
provided services.</p>
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