Countess in rant at NHS over £40 health check for a gun licence
A COUNTESS called the NHS a ‘disgrace’ over a £40 charge for a medical reference months after doctors saved her husband’s life.
Multi-millionaire Sara Bathurst accused the health service of ‘blackmail’ when she was asked to pay a GP to give her the allclear for a gun licence.
The aristocrat, who as the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire is an official representative of the Queen, has now apologised for her Twitter rant.
Lady Bathurst received a letter from her GP explaining that there was a charge for a medical reference for her suitability for a gun licence.
The doctor said the work was ‘not covered by the NHS contract’.
But the countess, who is also patron of a local hospital, saw red at the fee and posted a photo of a letter on social media along with a tirade at the health service. She tweeted: ‘My doctor’s surgery have just demanded £40 – blackmailing me into paying them to give police a medical reference for gun licence. £disgrace.’
The wife of Lord Bathurst has since deleted the tweets, blaming her reaction on being ‘overtired’ because her husband is still recovering in an NHS hospital.
Labour county councillor Barry Kirby led calls for the countess to ‘consider her position’. He said: ‘This goes to show how out of touch Lady Bathurst is about real life.
‘It is unfortunately quite common that NHS services now have to charge for things like this, but I think in this case it is acceptable that the NHS charge her – a gun licence is not exactly commonplace.
‘As the Queen’s representative for Gloucester I hope that she seriously considers her position, it is not acceptable to blatantly attack our fantastic local NHS services for doing their jobs. If she was really concerned about NHS charges then perhaps speaking to her high-profile friends would be a better course of action instead of falling out with local doctors on Twitter.’ In August, Lady Bathurst, 52, paid tribute to the ‘extraordinary’ medical staff who treated her 55-year-old husband Allen when he fell seriously ill.
He was admitted to Cheltenham General Hospital in late July suffering severe septic arthritis. He was placed in an induced coma and on a ventilator machine for more than a week while life-saving treatment could be carried out. Lady Bathurst is also a patron of Cirencester Hospital League of Friends. Following the reaction to her outburst she has now apologised.
Responding to accusations that her tweet was ‘ridiculous’, she said: ‘Put it down to a silly knee-jerk reaction and being somewhat overtired and concerned about life in general. No offence meant.’
Yesterday she said her anger was not targeted at the NHS. She said: ‘I have since looked into the matter and having had it explained to me, I can now completely understand why a doctor’s surgery might incur costs over time and effort spent in processing forms and I will be happy to pay the fee requested.’