A silly charge for a letter

@maximax8 (31047)
United Kingdom
February 25, 2012 12:22pm CST
I went to the doctors and asked them to write a letter to customs for my trip to Argentina and Chile next month. My disabled son needs catheters so a letter explaining is essential to explain that. The National Health Scheme is free yet the doctor wants fifteen pounds for writing that letter. I think that is a silly amount for writing a letter. What do you think? Have you ever had a silly charge for something?
2 people like this
11 responses
@albto_568 (1268)
• Costa Rica
21 Apr 12
Rather than silly, I find it abusive, and yes, I have face abusive charges in the past, but not from doctors, but from lawyers. I have been charged the equivalent of US$50 dollars just for a rubber stamp in a bill or something, while others may charge less than half.
@SKLC_PT (1234)
13 Apr 12
I find some things in healthcare are just so crazy. I find it so outrageous that one would charge you for a simple letter that your son needs for that. I mean you can get money of a signed object from a celebrity, but they are celebrities. I find it so silly when the medical profession does things like that. I got a letter once stating that the doctor where I was, despite doctors being free, that if one needed a note to say for example you can't go to work because you are sick that it would be charged for, I thought it's so ridiculous, you're sick, you have to take time off work, you will be getting less money, and needing to fork out money maybe for medication, and you still need to pay for a letter to ask for sick leave. Madness really, that's what I think of it, it's just a letter with some ink, I'm sure they take the same time to write out other things that they end up shredding to the trash, yet this tiny piece of paper maybe worth one penny is now supposed to be so expensive just because of a signature, and maybe even a paper you might not even end up having to show it cause some people just say it's fine. They should start charging for real things, and people who have money, not people that tend to now have money to spare in the first place.
@SViswan (12051)
• India
4 Mar 12
Oh we have a lot of that in India :-( Bribes need to be paid for anything and everything. The government officials who are supposed to help us..demand it! If one needs to get anything done, we'll need to pay bribes to everyone including the lowest office boy!
@AmbiePam (90143)
• United States
17 Mar 12
How ridiculous! That is disheartening that he would be so greedy.
@free_man (7330)
• United States
26 Feb 12
I don't think the doctor should be charging anything for writing a letter concerining your sons health.
• China
26 Feb 12
The same things happen in China too.Ridiculous,but we don't know how to forbid it to happen.
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
25 Feb 12
The National Health Service is free but doctors are entitled to (and indeed are required to) charge for official declarations and letters such as that. £15 is quite reasonable. A solicitor might well charge double that for a similar sort of letter and my bank charges me £35 to send me a letter saying I am overdrawn!
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
25 Feb 12
Well a few years ago i moved house. They did a bad tiling job and I had to take the tiler and the company involved to court as they did not want to settle the problem. Anyway I brought my own architect and wrote a report for just 50sterling. The court did not rely on my architect and send one of her experts. He did the same thing just an inspection...but the bill was 150sterling. just a fifteen mins job.
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
25 Feb 12
I think when I went through the process of being certified to drive I had to pay some money, about fifeteen dollars for the doctor to sign and fill out the documentation. At the time I had to let them certify me saying I no longer have epilepsy. I think it's ridiculous charges and just a way to get money out of us in more ways. It shouldn't be legal, but obviously it is in more then just the US.
• United States
25 Feb 12
Well im not sure what fifteen pounds is but i know they charge us here as well in Florida for doctors to write letters or to even just get there signature on a letter i might have typed up. Its crazy what we have to do to get things done in the world and to even go on vacation what we all have to do and if your situation you have alot to get ready but im sure your son is going to be extremely happy for doing all of this for him.
• Ireland
25 Feb 12
In Ireland, even if you have a medical card, you still get charged €15 if you need a doctor's note to declare you unfit to work and every place of employment requires one if you still wish to be paid for the sick day that you've taken. Cheaper than £15. I am not keen on having to pay it, but it's a reasonable amount, it could be worse.