POLL - Are you happy to pay for a medical certificate?

[Hornet 6]

No I won't pay, simple, or is it ?
If it is the police forcing you to provide medical details to be provided by a doctor they can pay.....
Unless you have indicated on the renewal forms that you have a medical history that may affect your entitlement to a certificate.
If there is no reason, and you have not indicated there is then its a case of innocent till proven guilty, the police want a medical report then the police pay for it.

Neil.

 

[ashray]

having spoken to basc they assure me that most members are not happy to pay the gp why is it being posted that they say most are happy to pay.also i note most of the members willing? to pay the gp are not people who use firearms for employment but mostly high paid hobby shooters? nice to have an expensive hobby that you are happy to give the gp the money but to most working in the country animal management your £150 or what ever gp ,s want is very hard to justify.my £11000 pa pay restricts where funds can be spent and i resent the fact that gp,s can rob us .i pay for my fac /sgc and should not be ask for more money the fees are set for your certificate issue so we should not pay anything else.

 

[Scotty1980]

Can't make my mind up.

 

[jimbo123p]

Look at in fairness to the doctor. I have reached the age of 67. I was a child in three areas of Scotland. I have ten years army service, since leaving I have been looked after by two different practices, Connel and Whitburn. In Whitburn, ten years I have seen my doctor twice for general examinations. I have enjoyed good health. For my doctor to sign he has to go back through my records. As such they are not extensive but some go to hundreds of pages. How long has your doctor known you?

 

[Davie_M]

i had to pay living in the dictatorship that is scotland £15.00 was the bill. That should have went to the police for a doctor whom i have never met to say if they think i am suitable to hold firearms

conclusion scottish police are skint and are passing on the bill to the applicant against home office guidelines

 

[teabag_46]

How well does my doctor know me?

I don't even know the name of my doctor!

 

[sikadog]

As Mikeakc says we are already paying the doctors wages through tax and nation insurance.

If you were paying an employee to do a job and he wanted extra money to do the same job would you pay him I dont think so.

 

[enfieldspares]

I saw my Doctor in the local Co-Op just before Christmas. Other than that I only see him if and when I feel ill. My father's generation, for the most part, knew their Doctor from having social intercourse with them on a weekly or even fortnightly basis as they all, pretty much, lived in the same community. So would see each other on a passing in the street basis if nothing else. In fact my father and his Doctor knew each other since boyhood as they'd both been educated at the same school. I've no idea where my Doctor lives at all. Nor even if he is local born, bred and raised.

 

[kes]

Look at in fairness to the doctor. I have reached the age of 67. I was a child in three areas of Scotland. I have ten years army service, since leaving I have been looked after by two different practices, Connel and Whitburn. In Whitburn, ten years I have seen my doctor twice for general examinations. I have enjoyed good health. For my doctor to sign he has to go back through my records. As such they are not extensive but some go to hundreds of pages. How long has your doctor known you?

My current doctor has known me for just 2 years - I am 67 and had a relatively highly paid and certainly stressful job. The doctor signs the yes/no form on the basis that he has looked at your records and finds nothing of concern. Age doesnt matter, familiarity doesnt either. you are doubtful or not. If I was 'doubtful' I would expect my doctor to call me in and explain - they are paid for their roll, not for the work per patient. That said I havent been to see him/her at all but have owned guns for 50 years. My doctor did the RIGHT thing as he/she was supposed to - doubt and I would have paid but only after a discussion to justify his/her concerns. Come on this is NOT rocket science.

 

[kes]

This BASC 'newsletter' of 2016 is worth a read, as are the linked documents, particularly that from the doctors representatives. BASC welcomed this, claiming it as their success, despite it being OBVIOUS that GP's reps had a clear and obvious problem with it which BASC knew about and linked the document to their own. (Would you say the advice for doctors is 'compliant' ?).
All for a ten year licence we didn't get and the doctors also jumped to a 'right' to a conscientious objection. Real negotiating skills clearly from BASC- just read it.

https://basc.org.uk/firearms/applying-for-a-firearmshotgun-certificate/

 

[AMR999]

If it’s the only way for me to keep my fac/sgc then yes I’m happy...

 

[I. Farticus]

This BASC 'newsletter' of 2016 is worth a read, as are the linked documents, particularly that from the doctors representatives. BASC welcomed this, claiming it as their success, despite it being OBVIOUS that GP's reps had a clear and obvious problem with it which BASC knew about and linked the document to their own. (Would you say the advice for doctors is 'compliant' ?).
All for a ten year licence we didn't get and the doctors also jumped to a 'right' to a conscientious objection. Real negotiating skills clearly from BASC- just read it.

https://basc.org.uk/firearms/applying-for-a-firearmshotgun-certificate/

This link gives the thoughts of Mark Sanford-Wood who is the Firearms Task & Finish Group Lead in the BMA:
https://www.bma.org.uk/connecting-d...eblog/posts/updated-firearms-guidance-for-gps

"A major stumbling block has been the question of the funding for the process, and there have been a number of high profile articles in the national press highlighting the plight of shooters who have been charged by their GP for the production of reports. Some of these reports have been very critical of the BMA and doctors in general. The BMA is very conscious that in all Law codes across the UK there is no right to bear arms. To carry weapons is a criminal offence, and the issuing of a firearms certificate is a significant privilege which exempts the holder from normal legal constraints. The question therefore comes down to who should pay for that privilege.
Most reasonable people expect that the costs of a private hobby are borne by the hobbyist and should not be subsidised by the taxpayer. There are many such examples from diving to parachuting, and HGV driving to flying. I hold a private pilot’s license and the thought that the NHS should provide me with free pilot medicals has never once crossed my mind. Unfortunately, police constabularies are not in a position to factor medical report costs into the fee they charge the hobbyist and so the only fair way of this being resourced is a direct charge to the applicant. This argument is only strengthened when we consider that a box of 250 12-bore Bismuth cartridges, an essential for a decent weekend shoot, currently retails at £500. It is difficult to support a claim for exceptional treatment in such circumstances regardless of whether the shooting lobby exercises significant political influence.

Any expectation that a doctor will provide this service free of charge represents a de facto transfer of NHS resources from the sick to shotgun owners. The BMA cannot agree to that principle and I believe that the British public support our stance. I do not believe that the average person on the Clapham omnibus supports a reduction in health services in order to provide financial assistance to reduce the cost of pheasant shooting."

 

[howy308]

How many people on here would like to work for nothing.

 

[Essex stalker]

I work for nothing every time I Fill in a VAT returns, tax returns, PAYE monthly returns etc, perhaps we should start charging HMRC every time we have to fill in one of their forms

 

[Dalua]

This link gives the thoughts of Mark Sanford-Wood who is the Firearms Task & Finish Group Lead in the BMA:
https://www.bma.org.uk/connecting-d...eblog/posts/updated-firearms-guidance-for-gps

"A major stumbling block has been the question of the funding for the process, and there have been a number of high profile articles in the national press highlighting the plight of shooters who have been charged by their GP for the production of reports. Some of these reports have been very critical of the BMA and doctors in general. The BMA is very conscious that in all Law codes across the UK there is no right to bear arms. To carry weapons is a criminal offence, and the issuing of a firearms certificate is a significant privilege which exempts the holder from normal legal constraints. The question therefore comes down to who should pay for that privilege.
Most reasonable people expect that the costs of a private hobby are borne by the hobbyist and should not be subsidised by the taxpayer. There are many such examples from diving to parachuting, and HGV driving to flying. I hold a private pilot’s license and the thought that the NHS should provide me with free pilot medicals has never once crossed my mind. Unfortunately, police constabularies are not in a position to factor medical report costs into the fee they charge the hobbyist and so the only fair way of this being resourced is a direct charge to the applicant. This argument is only strengthened when we consider that a box of 250 12-bore Bismuth cartridges, an essential for a decent weekend shoot, currently retails at £500. It is difficult to support a claim for exceptional treatment in such circumstances regardless of whether the shooting lobby exercises significant political influence.

Any expectation that a doctor will provide this service free of charge represents a de facto transfer of NHS resources from the sick to shotgun owners. The BMA cannot agree to that principle and I believe that the British public support our stance. I do not believe that the average person on the Clapham omnibus supports a reduction in health services in order to provide financial assistance to reduce the cost of pheasant shooting."

Some of this is wrong, and some unhelpfully makes comparisons with thing to which firearms licensing can not be compared.

How many people on here would like to work for nothing.

No-one, I imagine. But I don't think anyone wants the GPs to work for nothing either.
It just seems reasonable that if reports are wanted by the FLD that they should pay for them - that's all.

The stuff from the BMA about firearms ownership being a priviledge is guff, of course, as we've discussed hrere previously

 

[slider]

No - already paid for the NHS through taxes, already paid for renewal.

But doing this work isn't in the Doctors contacts therefore is not NHS work. That said I think the system is a mess, this is the fault of very loose interpretation of HO guidance by the Police and not the fault of Doctors.

IF there is going to be a charge (and I am not saying there should be) then it should be laid out in HO guidance what that charge should be, what the Doctor needs to do within that charge and, most importantly, should be consistent.

 

[AMR999]

How many people on here would like to work for nothing.

Indeed

 

[bobjs]

like most people,

i have paid my taxes,) and paid for my operations out of my own pocket as the waiting list was silly, )

i also pay for my renewal

i have also paid in full this country or ours in the armed forces,

so to me its it’s a BIG NO.

bob.

 

[JTO]

How many people on here would like to work for nothing.

A small farmer was asked what he would do if he won the lottery jackpot.
"I would carry on farming until it was all gone". Was his reply.

 

[Buchan]

The checking of a medical record, looking for any health concerns that may have a bearing on the suitability of a person to hold a firearm, is a professional task. GPs are currently paid (as I understand it) on a task basis, not given a set salary, and this task is not one they are contracted for. It does take time, searching a clinical record especially as the GP is giving a clinical opinion. One which could, if done in a slapdash fashion, have serious repercussions. I'm happy to pay a fee, I'd be even happier if this was rolled into a higher application fee that led to a better more coherent process.