Out Of Area Policy

Out of Area registration is intended to help patients who live, work or study nearby (in our catchment area) to attend face to face appointments. Our default consulting mode is face to face.

• Face-to-face appointments should be booked for any issue that may require a physical assessment, to ensure clinically safe care.
• In-person appointments are generally preferred for mental health concerns. If unsure whether an issue requires examination, it is safer to book a face-to-face appointment.

• Patients living outside our area should be able to commute easily for most appointments and similarly be able to attend the vast majority of their appointments in person.
• Similarly, they should be able to access local services they are referred to.
• Those who require home visits or have mobility issues should register with a GP local to their residence. Use the NHS website to find a suitable GP
• Patients who need services from local teams (district nurses, community mental health services, psychiatry, health visitors, social care) must register with a practice within their borough to ensure proper access.

• Out of area patients requiring an urgent home visit can contact 111, who will advise on local options.

• There is no NHS general directory of services, or guide for accessing these services and their referral pathways and criteria, nor do we have access to their specific referral forms for services outside our area.
• We often experience additional barriers, as often these services including local primary care networks, integrated multidisciplinary team or specialist services such community paediatrics, will not accept a referral if the patient and GP is not within their NHS commissioned catchment. In such situations patients would be required to register with a more local GP.

In accordance with NHS policy, we reserve the right to cancel registrations if out of area patients are unable to access care safely or it is clinically inappropriate.