On the England NHS website it says you don’t need an ID or proof of address or like basically anything to register with a GP, maybe just a beating heart, but whenever I’ve asked they seem quite anal about getting your shit. Like I felt like I had to fight them for this thing that’s blatantly on the site in the first few lines about the topic. Why? Do you need it or not?
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/gps/how-to-register-with-a-gp-surgery/
Sourced it brunches
16 comments
All I’ve ever needed was a form from reception.
If you read down a bit on the link you provided it says GP surgeries may refuse you if you live outside the catchment area, presumably for them to confirm where you actually live it’ll be their policy to have proof of address.
Patience and lots of it
They won’t do house calls if you’re outside their catchment area.
And if they’ve got too many patients within the catchment area already they may not want to take you.
So they will want to know where you live.
The good old days of enough doctors per patient are long gone.
GPs practices earn more money the more patients they have registered on their system, so usually they’ll be quick to accept you. However, they may want to make a few checks just to make sure you are local and a legal resident.
Yeah this is all great in areas where gp’s aren’t oversubscribed. If this is the case you will only be taken by surgeries that have your address in their catchment area and that is why you will want to see proof of address.
A NHS number and address
You don’t need a permanent address to register with a GP. I live on a boat with no street address but my home mooring is in their patch I.e. homeless people are entitled to register to get healthcare .
Officially, you need nothing, provided the list is open. That said, we will decline to register children under 16 without a parent or guardian, this is for safeguarding reasons.
Lots of practices are unnecessarily restrictive, so if you live in their catchment area, are refused and want to make a fuss, ask for their refusal in writing and then contact your local commissioner (now called the ICS).
There are a couple of extra bits that are good to have –
It can be very helpful to know your NHS number, it makes sure we get the correct record through quickly and painlessly.
For young children, we like to get the red book, so we can make sure they’re up to date with vaccinations.
Mine asked me for proof of address so I told them to send me a letter and I’d bring that in. I was registered without proof of address.
I’m a bit curious why you want to confide information to the GP? If you don’t want to tell them your address, how do you hope to tell them you have blood coming out your anus? Not a serious question, just curious what you’re not wanting to disclose.
Anyhow, the general broadness is to make things as accessible as possible. Even homeless people can register with a GP as they don’t need an address!
>but whenever I’ve asked they seem quite anal about getting your shit.
I’ve seen this specialist video.
they wanted proof of address last time i tried.
You do need to provide your address; you just don’t need to prove it.
Whatever they ask for
Technically you don’t need anything.
TL;DR: This is more likely to be adhered to if you don’t have any obvious health problems and don’t have GP receptionists who are worryingly stupid.
Last time I moved house, very near to my old house but out of the catchment area, both of my nearest GPs insisted I needed my NHS number to register. You don’t, and I showed the receptionist the .gov link on my phone, and he said “oh, that’s NHS, we’re a GP.” (They were not a private GP; the link was about GPs that provide NHS services).
So I searched the practice’s own website, and showed them their own page that said you don’t need an NHS number. He claimed that British citizens needed an NHS number, and the “exemption” only applied to non-British people. That wasn’t what it said on the practice’s own website, and I showed him the site’s words right there on the screen. He said it was an old site, but it was the only site the practice had. refreshed right then and there as he watched. It was really odd.
The other GP also claimed the same with the same levels of proof. This time I had my ex with me, who was fully able-bodied; she was offered registration immediately with no NHS number. They required one from me, the person with obvious mobility problems. There were minutes between us entering the building (separately). It was definitely about me looking like someone who will cost them money.
I went back to the first GP, there was a different person on the desk, and they allowed me to register. I did also mention the registration problems. After a couple of months, that guy who didn’t understand the law wasn’t working there any more, but I have a strong suspicion that my sort-of complaint had nothing to do with it – he was probably making too many other mistakes.
(Your NHS number is not always easy to find – I had multiple letters from my old GP and various doctors and it isn’t on any of them, just my hospital number. It is on my blood test labels but I didn’t have any at the time, and it wasn’t on anything I had for my nearly-adult daughter, so it’s actually quite an onerous request).