§ 28. Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, in view of the case of an aged disabled miner charged £1.50 for a medical certificate in support of a housing application, details of which have been supplied to her, if she will propose making certificates of this type available free on the National Health Service.
§ Dr. OwenGeneral practitioners in the National Health Service are required by their terms of service to provide without charge to their patients only certain medical certificates and reports which are specified in the National Health Service (General Medical and Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations—for example, those required for national insurance purposes. Doctors are not obliged, therefore, to issue any other certificates and reports and, if they do so, they are entitled to charge fees for the service.
Where local authorities require medical evidence to support housing applications they can if they wish make a contribution 95W towards the cost of the certificate. However, local authorities could also consider whether alternative ways of assessing need could be found which would not require the production of medical evidence by general practitioners.