A WOMAN has lambasted a city surgery after it demanded £27 for a medical letter, which her bedridden father requires before he can be rehoused.

Emma Cross, who lives off Wylds Lane, Worcester, needs the £27 document in order to move her dad to Birmingham, where her family is originally from.

The mother-of-one has cared for her 76-year-old father for the past three years and wants to move back to Birmingham to get some help from friends.

But she needs a ‘supporting letter’ from Worcester’s Haresfield Surgery before her dad, John Cross, can be rehoused.

She claims the surgery demanded a fee for the letter, although one of the doctors relented today (February 21) and waived the charge.

Miss Cross, aged 47, previously said: “We are in financial hardship. I haven’t got 27p let alone £27.

“I’m paying £1 a week to pay off the letter. I’ve been paying for two weeks now. I don’t know whether my dad has 25 weeks left to live.

“The doctor’s [surgery] have said they are not going to revise the fee. They are adamant they won’t do the letter until this fee is paid.

“They are making me beg for this £27. I don’t know what to do.”

However Dr Andrew John, of Haresfield Surgery, contacted Miss Cross today and agreed to write the letter for free.

She added: “He said that he would do the letter in his office without one of the secretaries involved.

“He said I can do it for free and refund you your £2.”

Dr John said surgeries generally charge for letters which are not covered under the NHS contract for GP services, although doctors can handwrite notes for poorer patients.

Her father, who used to run an antiques shop in Pershore Road, Birmingham, suffers from neuropathy, as a result of his Type 2 diabetes.

He also battles with a number of health issues, such as high blood pressure, and is no longer able to leave his bedroom independently.

Miss Cross said she gets just over £60 a week as a carer and does almost everything for her dad, including helping him use the toilet.

She said she could not afford to pay for the letter and does not have any other sources of funding.

Her 19-year-old son, Zachary, lost his job as a shop assistant after he suffered a Bosworth fracture in a fall last year.

He later developed compartment syndrome in Worcestershire Royal Hospital and now finds it hard to walk.

Miss Cross said she decided the family needed to move back to Birmingham after community nurses advised her to seek help.

“They said to me ‘Emma even an NHS nurse has a day off a week’,” she added.

“With Zach’s accident I was run ragged and totally exhausted.”

The mother said her dad’s friends and some of her old school pals in Birmingham can help to care for her father.

Miss Cross, her dad and her son all currently live in a West Mercia Homes property.

A spokesman for the housing association said: "We understand Emma’s frustration and her desire to move closer to family and friends.

"West Mercia Homes does not have any housing in Birmingham but we are happy to support her finding something suitable through other providers. To do this, we need more information than has been provided to date.

"We have at no time requested a medical letter to enable a move but if she does apply for housing through a local authority, which is an option, they will require medical evidence in order to make her case a priority.

"The property the family is living in has been fully adapted to suit Mr Cross’s medical needs and as the tenant, we will be talking to him as a matter of urgency to ascertain his wishes. We will also be contacting his occupational therapist and social worker."

The family moved away from Birmingham after the death of Miss Cross’s mum.