Why NHS doctors charge patients for letters – BBC News – BBC.com<\/a><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Screenshot-2020-01-22-at-09.45.34-1-300x203.png?resize=360%2C244\")
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During my first pregnancy we took said trip to go and visit my family in Italy. We were taking a short EasyJet<\/a> flight to Nice (we fly to France and then cross the border) when I was 25 weeks pregnant and definitely in the honeymoon period of the second trimester. I mentioned the trip in passing to my midwife when she next visited and discovered that lurking on top of the cost of the holiday was an additional pregnancy-specific expense: the fitness to fly certificate. She advised me that I should get one from my GP. I was charged \u00a320. The minimum charge I\u2019ve heard of is \u00a315 and the most is \u00a330.<\/p>\nMy letter consisted of a few short sentences, which I thought was pretty scandalous, especially as the doctor didn\u2019t even see me; it was all on the midwife\u2019s advice. She\u2019d checked my blood pressure, urine etc and she relayed this info to the doctor along with my travel dates. I later learnt that the letter isn\u2019t even normally required until after 27 weeks (and I was still just under 27 weeks on my return flight).<\/p>\n
Airline policies<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s all quite confusing. After looking into it further, I found the rules vary quite a lot – according to carrier – as to when a letter\/certificate is required and also at what point in the pregnancy you are not permitted to fly. There are also different rules for multiple pregnancies (which I discovered second time around). It is definitely worth checking out before booking those flights. This guide<\/a> is very handy.<\/p>\nI do question this charge as the doctor didn\u2019t even ask to see me and it was a very standard letter. \u00a320 for this seems rather excessive. See me talking about it\u00a0in more detail on the BBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nMy letter consisted of a few short sentences, which I thought was pretty scandalous, especially as the doctor didn\u2019t even see me; it was all on the midwife\u2019s advice. She\u2019d checked my blood pressure, urine etc and she relayed this info to the doctor along with my travel dates. I later learnt that the letter isn\u2019t even normally required until after 27 weeks (and I was still just under 27 weeks on my return flight).<\/p>\n
Airline policies<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s all quite confusing. After looking into it further, I found the rules vary quite a lot – according to carrier – as to when a letter\/certificate is required and also at what point in the pregnancy you are not permitted to fly. There are also different rules for multiple pregnancies (which I discovered second time around). It is definitely worth checking out before booking those flights. This guide<\/a> is very handy.<\/p>\n I do question this charge as the doctor didn\u2019t even ask to see me and it was a very standard letter. \u00a320 for this seems rather excessive. See me talking about it\u00a0in more detail on the BBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n