Gp's letters again

[SpringDon]

Haven't seen this on here yet so....

The old boy in the village has just renewed and was told by the Gp that they were obliged to respond to the police request within 21 days whether he paid a fee or not.

But if they didn't respond within 7 days, the police could reject the application. The only way to get a response of 7 days was to pay £30.

 

It sounded a bit like blackmail to me. But he paid anyway.

[ips]

Nonsense.

The way I understand it is that if gp does not respond within 21 days then feo assumes no problems with applicant otherwise the gp would have told him and he grants licence.

[SpringDon]

Possibly. But if the gp letter is not germane to the application, why would anyone bother paying the fee? He's 70 and didn't know so he paid.

[wymberley]

I'd be having a one sided conversation with the GP, but I do note the "old boy" and "village" - next nearest GP?

[TommyB]

No response from gp in 21 days means all fine. Those are the guidelines.

[jam1e]

That an interesting one. I'm about to renew both of my tickets. Not the most clearest answer! At least they haven't said i need to pay for a medical report straight off the bat...

This is their take on it -

 

Declaration of Medical Conditions

The Chief Officer of Police has a statutory responsibility to ensure that anyone who possesses a firearm will not be a danger to public safety or to the peace. If you suffer with a relevant medical condition, you may wish to obtain a medical report from your General Practitioner and submit this alongside your application form. This will assist the timely and swift progress of your application, by preventing delays with the Firearms and Explosives Licensing Unit requesting a report after receiving your application.

Having a medical condition of any kind does not preclude you from possessing a firearm. However any physical or mental condition that may affect your ability to possess and use firearms safely should be declared.

Relevant medical conditions are:-

• Acute Stress Reaction or an acute reaction to the stress caused by trauma
• Suicidal thoughts or self harm
• Depression or anxiety
• Dementia
• Mania, bipolar disorder or a psychotic illness
• A personality disorder
• A neurological condition: for example, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's or Huntington's diseases, or epilepsy
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• The original report signed by the doctor (not a copy) must be included with your renewal application.

Where a medical report is needed because the applicant has declared a relevant medical condition on the application form the obligation is on the applicant to obtain the GP report and pay the fee. Where a medical report is needed because the GP has raised concerns or because the police require sight of a medical report for another reason the police will pay the fee.

[Me matt]

Doctor's......... shower of **** mate.

 

"Sorry all the appointments have gone, you need to call at 8am tmrw morning"

 

I've sat at home ill recently rather than get involved in practice politics and the gauntlet run that is making an appointment.

 

Wouldn't give them the drippings of my nose.

[Michael Scotland]

Hi lads I run a local pheasant shoot out of the last four renewals one payed nothing one payed £50 at the same practice one just paid £30 the other one has been waiting for 4 months and had to store his guns but has been told only this week that they will give him a medical certificate to hand to the police at the cost of £90 I am glad i have 2 years to run on my permit maybe they will sort it by then may i say the last guy i was talking about is a payed up member of BASC

[saddler]

Mate recently. Scotland.

GP refused to deal with this....opted out of compliance.

 

Police respond.

1. Hand in your guns

Or

2. Use one of OUR nominated doctors;

First wanted £185 to fill in the form.

Second was £285 for the first 20 minutes then £35 per 5 minutes on top.

 

He has NONE of the conditions that warrant a medical report above the one page rubber stamped form with three or four questions.

 

GP letter/report system is a farcical waste of time/resources/money

 

As a body, GPs are acknowledged as having possibly the highest rate of alcoholism of any occupation.

We're asking the town drunk to be sober long enough to decide what legitimate pursuits we can carry out!

 

Another statistic?

Add up ALL the illegal deaths caused from ALL licensed gun owners...in maybe the last 100 years or so...

That'll be under 10% of the murder tally of one respected GP.

 

All this BS of "if it only saves one premature death" compliance is A JOKE.

THIS WEEK the figures of premature deaths in the UK from AIR POLLUTION have been in the news.

 

Around 63 people PER DAY...

If legal guns killed that number per YEAR we'd have no civilian ownership!

 

The medical report system either needs unifying NATIONALLY or scrapping altogether.

[Sprinter]

My recent experience of this.... when the feo popped around for his tea, biscuits and tarzan swing on the door of my cabinet his parting shot was that some of the local gp practices were charging a lot of money for these letters and if i got a request for cash i was to refuse to pay!

 

Lo and behold 3 weeks later the practice manager was on the blower requesting £45 for a letter and asking when i would be in with cash or cheque? When i replied that i wouldnt be paying he categorically stated the without the letter my certificate renewal was effectively doomed and i would no longer be able to shoot, he then asked if i would reconsider. The answer was, no..... He then said on my head be it or something like that and was i sure i wanted to give up shooting for the sake of £45. Again i stated that i wouldnt be paying, end of conversation.

 

2 days later my cert plopped on the mat........

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Damned opportunists everywhere!

[ips]

My recent experience of this.... when the feo popped around for his tea, biscuits and tarzan swing on the door of my cabinet his parting shot was that some of the local gp practices were charging a lot of money for these letters and if i got a request for cash i was to refuse to pay!

 

Lo and behold 3 weeks later the practice manager was on the blower requesting £45 for a letter and asking when i would be in with cash or cheque? When i replied that i wouldnt be paying he categorically stated the without the letter my certificate renewal was effectively doomed and i would no longer be able to shoot, he then asked if i would reconsider. The answer was, no..... He then said on my head be it or something like that and was i sure i wanted to give up shooting for the sake of £45. Again i stated that i wouldnt be paying, end of conversation.

 

2 days later my cert plopped on the mat........

Exactly what my feo told me. He said if a gp ever tried to charge me then I was to ring him and he would "deal with it"

 

As an aside it is worth mentioning that Scottish law is different

[Scully]

Hi lads I run a local pheasant shoot out of the last four renewals one payed nothing one payed £50 at the same practice one just paid £30 the other one has been waiting for 4 months and had to store his guns but has been told only this week that they will give him a medical certificate to hand to the police at the cost of £90 I am glad i have 2 years to run on my permit maybe they will sort it by then may i say the last guy i was talking about is a payed up member of BASC

 

If the effectiveness of our shooting organisations are anything to go by, I doubt it very much; it's been going on for over a year now at least. There again, who else is going to fix it? Are they worth our membership fees?

[saddler]

Mine were renewed just before this came in.

 

No plan to still be this side of the border for the next renewal (hopefully getting out a LOT sooner....)

[rbrowning2]

Mine were renewed just before this came in.

No plan to still be this side of the border for the next renewal (hopefully getting out a LOT sooner....)

Don't worry you will have plenty of time because as a result of this fiasco with the doctors we got a ten year certificate or that's what the shooting organisations said would result from police acces to our medical records .... Hang on I just remembered we did not get anything accept shafted .

[jam1e]

Doctor's......... shower of **** mate.

 

"Sorry all the appointments have gone, you need to call at 8am tmrw morning"

 

I've sat at home ill recently rather than get involved in practice politics and the gauntlet run that is making an appointment.

 

Wouldn't give them the drippings of my nose.

I totally agree. They're a disgrace!

[mossy835]

this is one big rip off by the doctors, and some one should stop this.

[manthing]

My recent experience of this.... when the feo popped around for his tea, biscuits and tarzan swing on the door of my cabinet his parting shot was that some of the local gp practices were charging a lot of money for these letters and if i got a request for cash i was to refuse to pay!

 

Lo and behold 3 weeks later the practice manager was on the blower requesting £45 for a letter and asking when i would be in with cash or cheque? When i replied that i wouldnt be paying he categorically stated the without the letter my certificate renewal was effectively doomed and i would no longer be able to shoot, he then asked if i would reconsider. The answer was, no..... He then said on my head be it or something like that and was i sure i wanted to give up shooting for the sake of £45. Again i stated that i wouldnt be paying, end of conversation.

 

2 days later my cert plopped on the mat........

That's very close to demanding money with menace.

Report the practice manager to the relevant regulatory body.

[button]

Mate recently. Scotland.

GP refused to deal with this....opted out of compliance.

Police respond.

1. Hand in your guns

Or

2. Use one of OUR nominated doctors;

First wanted £185 to fill in the form.

Second was £285 for the first 20 minutes then £35 per 5 minutes on top.

He has NONE of the conditions that warrant a medical report above the one page rubber stamped form with three or four questions.

GP letter/report system is a farcical waste of time/resources/money

As a body, GPs are acknowledged as having possibly the highest rate of alcoholism of any occupation.

We're asking the town drunk to be sober long enough to decide what legitimate pursuits we can carry out!

Another statistic?

Add up ALL the illegal deaths caused from ALL licensed gun owners...in maybe the last 100 years or so...

That'll be under 10% of the murder tally of one respected GP.

All this BS of "if it only saves one premature death" compliance is A JOKE.

THIS WEEK the figures of premature deaths in the UK from AIR POLLUTION have been in the news.

Around 63 people PER DAY...

If legal guns killed that number per YEAR we'd have no civilian ownership!

The medical report system either needs unifying NATIONALLY or scrapping altogether.

I think this is a real concern in Scotland and wonder why they are able to get away with this when in England they have this 21 day rule about progressing if no response.

 

Would like to know the basis that Police Scotland can do this and also what BASC are doing to fight this?

 

Mine is due in 2 years hoping they have got this sorted by then

[Yellow Bear]

I think this is a real concern in Scotland and wonder why they are able to get away with this when in England they have this 21 day rule about progressing if no response.

 

Would like to know the basis that Police Scotland can do this and also what BASC are doing to fight this?

 

Mine is due in 2 years hoping they have got this sorted by then

More relevant what are SACS doing

[mossy835]

what is any org doing about it nothing, mine is in for renewal now. so see if my doctor gives me a bill.

Edited April 29, 2017 by mossy835

[LeadWasp]

That an interesting one. I'm about to renew both of my tickets. Not the most clearest answer! At least they haven't said i need to pay for a medical report straight off the bat...

This is their take on it -

 

Declaration of Medical Conditions

The Chief Officer of Police has a statutory responsibility to ensure that anyone who possesses a firearm will not be a danger to public safety or to the peace. If you suffer with a relevant medical condition, you may wish to obtain a medical report from your General Practitioner and submit this alongside your application form. This will assist the timely and swift progress of your application, by preventing delays with the Firearms and Explosives Licensing Unit requesting a report after receiving your application.

Having a medical condition of any kind does not preclude you from possessing a firearm. However any physical or mental condition that may affect your ability to possess and use firearms safely should be declared.

Relevant medical conditions are:-

• Acute Stress Reaction or an acute reaction to the stress caused by trauma
• Suicidal thoughts or self harm
• Depression or anxiety
• Dementia
• Mania, bipolar disorder or a psychotic illness
• A personality disorder
• A neurological condition: for example, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's or Huntington's diseases, or epilepsy
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• The original report signed by the doctor (not a copy) must be included with your renewal application.

Where a medical report is needed because the applicant has declared a relevant medical condition on the application form the obligation is on the applicant to obtain the GP report and pay the fee. Where a medical report is needed because the GP has raised concerns or because the police require sight of a medical report for another reason the police will pay the fee.

Isn't this advice from your force factually incorrect? "The original report signed by the doctor (not a copy) must be included with your renewal application." There should be no initial medical report according the agreed protocol.

 

My understanding is that the process should be:-

1) You send in application to Police

2) They contact your GP with an initial request for information, to be replied to in 21 days with no fee charged.

3) If the GP's response requires further clarification/explanation police request this as a chargeable report.

4) You pay GP's non NHS fee for preparing the report and this document goes back to the police.

5) Process then continues as before..........

 

My GP has posted a list of form charges at the surgery. FAC's and SGC's were not explicitly listed so probably qualify as 'any other work' at £200/hr!

Edited April 29, 2017 by LeadWasp

[ips]

They cannot give you a bill because they cannot charge furthermore you haven't asked for the info the feo have.

[Me matt]

furthermore you haven't asked for the info the feo have.

Spot on 👍 exactly what I told my gp practice. I also told them that running my own business has taught me- always inform your clients what they will be expected to pay with a written quotation prior to me supplying my services.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Me matt

[ips]

Exactly.

 

The only time / reason that you have to pay is if the gp flags up an issue on initial report (unless the awkward sod decided to ignore it in which case feo signs it off) and feo requires further info from gp, then I believe you have to pay BUT the initial one you never see as feo sends it. If gp contacts you then as matt says tell em to stuff off as its not come from you.