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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 for
which a medical report is required by other legislation, for example, the Social Security
Administration Act, 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 legislation requires a medical certificate,
or report, the relevant Government Department enters into arrangements with the British
Medical Association on the level of fees which will be paid to GPs for providing the
required information. Such arrangements are formalised through the provisions of the
GP contract.</p><p> </p><p>As these are private arrangements between GP practices
and other organisations, the Department does not review the level of fees.</p>
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