Upton Group Practice

Registration Policy

How do I register with the practice?

If you are new to the area you can come in to the practice and ask to register. In order to register you as a patient we need to ensure that you are entitled to free NHS treatment and that you live at an address that the Practice covers within its catchment area. If you are uncertain as to whether your home address falls within our Practice area please ring and enquire. Our Reception Staff will be happy to help.

When you come to the Practice to register please bring with you proof of identity – your Birth Certificate, Passport or Driving licence and also something to confirm your address. This could be a recent (i.e. no older than three months) utility bill, Bank or credit card statement or a letter from your Solicitors or Landlord confirming the move to your address. Regrettably mobile phone bills are not sufficient.

We need you to fill in a form – the GMS 1- which gives details of your current address and your previous address and that of your previous GP. This is so that we can call your medical records forward from your previous practice.

We also ask you to complete a short questionnaire to provide us with some basic information about you. When we register you we will ask you to make an appointment with one of our Practice Nurses for a New Patient Health check. This is very important as it allows us to gather some information on you and your health history, which is useful to us, before your records arrive.

For patients who moved into the Wirral area after 12 March 2010, who have not previously lived in an area where the Summary Care Record is being rolled out, there is a decision form about the electronic health record system and we need you to sign to state you wish to opt in or opt out of having a Summary Care Record created. Details of the system are all contained in the form.

Can I register with your practice if I am already registered with another practice in the area?

If you are already registered with another practice in this area we may need to ask you to make a routine appointment to come in to discuss your registration application with one of our doctors who will then advise if we can register you on our list. Generally we accept applications from people who have moved house within the area. However final discretion on this rests with the registering GP who may feel it is not appropriate for us to register you and thereby deregister you from your present doctor. We certainly do not believe in poaching patients!

How long will it take for my medical records to come through from my previous practice?

This normally takes up to six weeks.

Why does it take so long?

Despite modern technology when you register with a new practice and that practice requests your records they do not communicate directly with your previous practice. Communication is sent electronically to our Health Authority to say that you have joined our practice and we need your records. This is why it is important that we know who your previous GP was if possible. Our Health Authority then contacts the Health Authority in the area you have left and requests that they obtain your records. The Health Authority there contacts your previous practice and recalls the records, which are collected from the practice by a special weekly courier service. The records are then passed - again by special secure courier service – to the Health Authority in your new area. And finally they despatch these records out via the weekly courier service to your new practice.

Once the records come in to us we sort them to ensure that all details are filed neatly and in chronological order and then we summarise them onto a card in the notes and also onto our computer system. This summary will highlight any key events in your medical history so that when you see our doctors they should have a brief and easily readable record of your significant medical history.

Do I need a medical card to register with your practice?

No. Medical cards used to be issued by your new Health Authority when you joined a practice in their area. You used to submit your medical card in place of filling in a registration form and when it went to the Health Authority they would automatically issue you a new medical card. However this system was stopped some years ago and a medical card is no longer needed for registration at a practice.

Do I need an NHS number to register with your practice?

No. Most patients do not know what their NHS number is and many people confuse their National Insurance number with their NHS number. The computer systems at the Health Authority will advise us of your NHS number if you already have one and will allocate one to you if you do not.

What happens if I am ill whilst I am away on holiday elsewhere in the UK?

If you are unwell whilst you are on holiday in the UK and are away from home for more than 24hours but no more than 3 months you can be seen and treated by another GP as a Temporary Resident. You can go to a local practice and ask to be seen, although they may ask you to wait for a routine appointment if they do not have any available immediately and your condition is not classed as urgent. You will be asked to fill in a form giving the details of your usual address and GP’s address as well as details of the place where you are staying whilst on holiday. Part of this form is then completed by the GP when you are seen to record the treatment given. This record is then sent back via the Health Authorities to your usual GP so that he or she knows you have had treatment elsewhere and what that treatment was.

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