Sir, I was asked by a patient to provide him with a letter in relation to his application for a passport. He had to confirm his right to hold a British passport by verifying the information he had given on his application form by obtaining a letter that showed where he lived in the past three years. This could be provided by a number of individuals or organisations and were listed on the covering letter from the Identity and Passport Service of the Home Office as follows:

  • Your bank or building society

  • Your employer

  • Your landlord or mortgage company

  • Your school or university

  • Your local authority

  • The Department of Work and Pensions

  • Your dentist, or only if absolutely necessary, your GP (We ask that you do not trouble your doctor for non-medical reasons if it can be avoided)

  • A Commanding Officer.

It would seem from the above that we, as a profession, have failed to establish with officialdom that our time is anything like as valuable as our medical colleagues!