New Patient Registration

Registering with us as a new patient, or staying with us if you are a current patient and if you live outside our catchment area.

If you are thinking of joining us and you are out of our catchment area, you must agree to these rules:

• We recognize that some of our currently registered patients would like to remain registered with us due to familiarity and for continuity in their care. This may be possible when you move out of our catchment area, but the following rules will still apply to you. 
• As a practice, we do allow patients to register with us, even if they live beyond our catchment area, but with some exceptions (for example; home visits and urgent treatment) and some restrictions (for example; referrals) to the services that we provide. 
• To be accepted as an out of area patient, you must live outside our catchment area but within a London Borough address, if you live outside of a London Borough, unfortunately we cannot accept your registration or keep you registered as a patient. 

The Staunton Group Practice recognises that not all patients wish to register at a surgery close to their home address. Many patients prefer to register closer to their place of work or study. In order to address this demand there is an option available for patients called "Out of Area" (OOA) Registration.

OOA Registration offers the patients all the services usually associated with registration, with the exception of Home Visit’s. The practice cannot attend home visits for patients who live outside of their catchment area. If an OOA Registered patient is unable to travel to the practice due to illness and needs to be seen at home, whatever the time of day or night, they can call 111 (urgent) or 999 (emergency) and get the care they need.

There are some patients who are not suitable for OOA registration. These include any patient who is likely to require input from a specialist team who are geographically located according to their home, not their GP address.

• This includes (but not limited to) the below:
• Pregnant women/ Antenatal services 
• Families with children under the age of 6 years old  
• Patients with serious mental health problems/ Community Mental Health Teams 
• Patients or Families with Child Safeguarding needs/ Children’s Social Care 
• Patients with Adult Safeguarding needs/ Adult Social Care 
• Patients with complex community-based packages of care/ Adult Social Care 

The reasons for denying the option of OOA registration to patients in groups such as these is that their health and social care needs are best met through registration close to where they live. It is difficult and impractical for GPs to coordinate such care remotely with services, with which they do not already have strong professional working relationships.

The practice has the right to decline to register any patient from these categories or if a current patient, request the patient to register elsewhere if their circumstances result in them entering one of these groups while being registered as OOA at our practice.

OOA registration will, we hope, allow patients who are pleased with the level of care our service provides to remain with our practice should they move away, if they wish. We also hope that patients who travel to work or study in the local area, and who are therefore part of our community, might also have access to our GP surgery for the first time.

Please note that registering as an OOA patient you may sometimes need a referral to a particular service. Sometimes there are restrictions to how and where we can refer you as some referrals are based on your address. We are limited when it comes to referrals beyond our local area.

There may be times a referral will be rejected simply based on your home address which is out of our control. If you are seeking a referral, it may be better to join a GP practice closer to home to avoid any possible delays to any treatment (including urgent treatment, such as urgent suspected cancer referrals).

New patients

You must agree to the above and then complete the New Patient Registration Form (Over 16 - Adults only)

The practice will send you an out of area patient agreement to be completed and returned. Completing the out of area Agreement and returning it to us assures that you understand and agree to the out of area exceptions and restrictions, and you may be asked to register to a GP surgery closer to your home address that would provide you with suitable and unrestrictive care according to your needs. Once your medical records have been received from your previous practice, a GP will review them to ensure there is no barrier to your ongoing care requirements by you being registered as an out of area patient.

Existing patients

When you notify the practice that you have changed your address (which can be done via the Change of Address Form or in person at the practice) the team will update your details and ask a GP to review your medical history to ensure it is safe and appropriate for you to remain registered with the practice. If the Doctor assesses that you are suitable to remain, the practice will send you the out of area agreement to read, sign and return to the practice.

Completing the out of area agreement and returning it to us assures that you understand and agree to the out of area exceptions and restrictions, and you may be asked to register to a GP surgery closer to your home address that would provide you with suitable and unrestrictive care according to your needs. If the GP assesses that it is not suitable for you to remain registered at the practice, we will write to you to notify you of this.

You can also register through the NHS app

Use the NHS App to:

• check your symptoms
• find out what to do when you need help urgently
• book and manage appointments at your GP surgery
• order repeat prescriptions
• view your GP medical record securely
• register to be an organ donor
• choose how the NHS uses your data

Find out more about the NHS app

The surgery allocates all patients with a named GP who will have overall responsibility for the care and support that our surgery provides to them at the point of registration.

We know that some patients will wish their named GP to be a particular doctor. Where a patient expresses a preference as to which doctor they have been assigned, the practice will make reasonable efforts to accommodate this request, but we would like to reassure patients that this system does not prevent you from seeing any GP in the practice as you currently do. Your named GP will not be available at all times.

If you are unsure of who your named GP is, please ask the reception team when you next contact the practice.