There will not be any unreasonable reason as to why a patient might not be accepted by the practice.

By unreasonable we mean:

• Medical condition
• Race
• Gender or sexual orientation
• Disability
• Age
• Religious group or religious beliefs
• Political beliefs
• Appearance or lifestyle

Reasonable reasons for refusal are generally because:

• The list is officially closed (see above)
• The patient resides out of the publicised practice area and would require home visits

The practice may also refuse to accept a patient onto it’s list (subject to a Partners’ discussion and agreement) if:

• The patient has been previously removed from the list
• The patient has a known history of violence

• Part 13 of the NHS England GMS Contract 2015/16
• Schedule 6, Part 2 of The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) Regulations 2004

This applies to any person within their practice area that has been:

• refused application for inclusion in the contractor’s list of patients
• who is not registered with another provider of essential services
• whose application for acceptance as a temporary resident has been rejected

There is no definition of immediately necessary treatment in primary medical services contract regulations.

However, in relation to people who are visiting or not a resident in England, it should be viewed as including treatment of new conditions and also pre-existing conditions that have become exacerbated during the period of a person’s stay in England, subject to the contractor’s clinical judgement.

Practices may only decline to register a patient (whether as a temporary resident or permanent patient) if they have reasonable grounds to do so. These grounds will not be not related to an applicant’s race, gender, social class, age, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, disability or medical condition.

Therefore practices should not refuse registration on the grounds that a patient is unable to produce such evidence.

Anyone who is in England is entitled to receive NHS primary medical services at a GP practice and applications for registration for any patient in England must be considered in exactly the same way, regardless of country of residence.

 After 14 days you will need to register as a temporary or permanent patient.

You can be registered as a temporary patient for up to three months. This will allow you to be on the local Practice list and still remain a patient of your permanent GP. After three months you will have to re-register as a temporary patient or permanently register with that Practice.

To register as a temporary patient simply contact the practice you wish to use. Practices do not have to accept you as a temporary patient although they do have an obligation to offer emergency treatment. You cannot register as a temporary patient at a Practice in the town or area where you are already registered.

 Further Information on Temporary Registration

Both the BMA and NHS England are committed to ensuring homeless patients receive the same level of care as those with permanent addresses.

The same obligation on practices regarding identity and proof of address apply to homeless patients as a population group. Homeless patients are entitled to register with a GP using a temporary address which may be a friend’s address or a day centre. The practice may also use the practice address to register them.

CQC expects practices to register people who are homeless, people with no fixed abode, or those legitimately unable to provide documentation living within their catchment area who wish to register with them.

However, you can book appointments with any of the GPs at the surgery. If you have a preference to which GP you are allocated, the practice will make reasonable efforts to accommodate your requests. If you wish to know which GP has been allocated to you, please ask reception at your next visit.

This will involve a blood sample to be taken, height, weight and lifestyle enquiries. The appointment will be with a Healthcare Assistant and will last no more than 15 minutes.

We also ask that you bring any medication that you are currently using along with you for the consultation.

Visit our appointments page to find out how to book your new patient health check.