Kent police dictate new requirements for renewal/ application for FAC

Mine is up for renewal, (police scotland) never had a problem with doctors, but just moved house & docs, cheecky buggers charged me £45 for the letter,,,,,so unlike my last doctors this greedy lot will NOT be getting any parcells of venison dropped of, considering it is a country practice, i think they are beeing shortsighted, but he ho thats the way it goes
Ray
 
did police Scotland request that you supply a doctors letter ?

Police should approach the doctor direct for any medical report and THEY have to pay the fees...NOT the applicant
 
did police Scotland request that you supply a doctors letter ?

Police should approach the doctor direct for any medical report and THEY have to pay the fees...NOT the applicant
Police scotland require you to provide doctors report , at your expence
 
Two different things being talked about here - one is the initial medical evidence ‘report’ otherwise known as the ‘tick box form’ that more and more forces are insisting on being provided with applications and at applicants cost. The other would be a full on medical report that may be required or requested if specific conditions are declared. Depending on the stage of the application and who requested it the cost may be with the applicant or the police.

If you do a forum search going back a couple of years the whole sorry saga will be revealed.
 
Northumbria Police are sending letters to GP's in a similar format of Kent Police. I think that this will, if not already be rolled out Nationally, so at least everyone will be in the same boat

Patrick
 
Just going through my renewal with TV and as it stands no letter from the GP will jeopardize my renewal. GP wants £50 and according to TVP I have till 22nd December to pay up.
On the plus sideTV offered a very substantial discount for early renewal so won't loose out financially.
 
Just going through my renewal with TV and as it stands no letter from the GP will jeopardize my renewal. GP wants £50 and according to TVP I have till 22nd December to pay up.
On the plus sideTV offered a very substantial discount for early renewal so won't loose out financially.

Could you explain the "substantial discount" bit.
I thought the cost of a renewal was fixed by the Home Office and not the Police

Cheers

Bruce
 
Just gone through my renewal with no problems in kent, my FEO called to say if i got the paperwork in before Nov 1st no letter would be required which i thought was pretty decent of her, so thats what i did, however we are now going through an initial FAC application for my wife and she will need to obtain a letter for which her GP wants £25, interestingly the GP is very supportive of the opertunity to provide the relevant info to the FEO but will not give a difinative proffessional opinion as to the suitability to hold a firearm
 
Just gone through my renewal with no problems in kent, my FEO called to say if i got the paperwork in before Nov 1st no letter would be required which i thought was pretty decent of her, so thats what i did, however we are now going through an initial FAC application for my wife and she will need to obtain a letter for which her GP wants £25, interestingly the GP is very supportive of the opertunity to provide the relevant info to the FEO but will not give a difinative proffessional opinion as to the suitability to hold a firearm

The GP is NOT required to give a "definitive professional opinion" on the applicants suitability to hold an FAC or SGC.
The relevant wording on the initial letter is "Do you have concerns about your patient being issued with a firearm or shotgun certificate"
The GP then ticks the Yes or NO box next to the question.
If the answer is yes, then almost certainly the Police will ask for a more thorough medical examination (which the applicant must pay for)

Cheers

Bruce
 
So are you saying that if a gp says yes, the applicant will be required to undergo a medical examination because the gp is telling me that no matter what her opinion is the only response from her will be a factual report based on existing medical notes?
 
If, after consulting the applicants medical notes, the GP feels that the YES box needs to be ticked, then the Police are definitely going to want the applicants medical condition investigated further.
The next stage in the process is for the Police to require the applicant to get (and pay for) a full medical examination by their GP.
If, as a result of that full medical examination, the Police are still not in a position to make a decision, then the Police can require the applicant to undergo a further medical examination (the guidance does not specify by whom), but this time the Police will pay.
If, after consulting the applicants medical notes, the GP feels that the NO box needs to be ticked then, in all probability, the Police will accept that the GP has no concerns about the applicant owning a gun and the application will move forward

Cheers

Bruce
 
Mmmm, could have a problem then, hyperthetically if the gp
ticks yes and the police demand a medical be done but the gp says she will only give a factual report not do a medical examination where does that leave us?
 
If the police require an applicant to have a medical examination by their GP, then the applicant will receive a letter from the Police to give to their GP outlining the areas of the applicants medical history and condition that they want more information about.
Most of this information will be fact based since it will come straight from the applicants medical records.
However, the Police are particularly interested to know the chances of a relevant medical condition recurring (e.g anxiety/depression) and this is clearly an area where the GP might not feel happy about giving an opinion.
On a broader point - I think many GPs simply don't understand what's going on with the new medical rules, and many of them seem to believe that they will be held criminally responsible if they tick the NO concerns box and the certificate holder then goes on to use a legally held gun to commit suicide or kill someone.
That is simply NOT the case - the ultimate responsibility for granting a certificate lies with the Police.
The new rules are basically there to try to catch applicants who lie about their medical condition on the application form.

Cheers

Bruce
 
This seems to be a nightmare scenario. Considering that the best stats suggest that 1 in 4 adults will suffer from clinical depression at some point in their life.
 
This seems to be a nightmare scenario. Considering that the best stats suggest that 1 in 4 adults will suffer from clinical depression at some point in their life.
Yes. And the last thing we want is shooters being unwilling to discuss this with their doctor for fear of losing their sport. It's quite a muddle.
 
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