The practice is not always able to provide private (non-NHS) services. These services and the fees for them sit outside our NHS contract and are wholly at the discretion of the practice. This includes but is not limited to: HGV medicals, private return to work notes, insurance claims, gender recognition certificates, non-NHS travel vaccinations. As an NHS general practice our priority is our NHS work and patient care, meaning if workload pressures are high, we may be unable to support with additional private work. The practice will be able to advise you when you contact us. Please allow sufficient time to find an alternative private provider if we are unable to assist with your request.
Requests for exemption from Jury service – information for patients
We receive many requests from patients who wish to be excused from Jury service. It is important to understand the process that happens when a patient requests to be excused from Jury service.
Issuing a letter to excuse a patient from Jury service is NOT an NHS contractual obligation and it is therefore at the discretion of each individual GP as to whether or not a letter can be issued.
If a GP chooses to issue an exemption letter, this is a legal document which binds that GP to the court. The GP can be summoned by the court to swear under oath that the patient is completely unable to attend court. Should the court disagree with the GP’s opinion then that GP may be found to be in contempt of court. This has significant personal implications for the GP themselves.
The court is able to make “reasonable adjustments” and these will allow most patients that are concerned about how they would manage to successfully participate in Jury service.
Due to the potential consequences for the GP, they must be absolutely certain that there are no circumstances under which the patient would be able to attend for Jury service, before issuing any letter.
This means that in general, GPs will only issue letters for patients with exceptional circumstances. Examples would be patients who are housebound with a terminal illness or patients who are admitted to hospital on the date the jury is due to sit.