Removed from doctor's list?!

[DaphneMoon1]

So yeah, 37+2 today and moved house last week. Not too far from our old place, I might add. Maybe a 20-minute drive if that.

Received a letter from my doctors surgery today (with no warning) along the lines of "you've moved outwith our catchment so we've removed you from our list, please find another practice and let us know where you register within seven days"

I'm really upset and stressed about this. Supposed to see the midwife next Tuesday! I really liked her. And what if there is no room in my new local practice??

Can they really do this?? I am in Scotland if that makes any difference.

[fairgame]

They do this in England. It happened to me, i moved 2 miles up the road and out of catchment so i got kicked off the list. My brother has been kicked off the list of his local surgery because he hasn't attended for about 6 years!
Midwife's are usually assigned a GP practice but are not employed by the practice (in my area anyway) so give the midwife a ring and she might still see you. It would be pretty shitty of her to transfer you so near the end of your pregnancy.

[CantBeBotheredThinking]

Yes they can if you have moved out of their area. Either contact your nearest practice to see if they will accept you or contact the nhs board to find out who covers your new area and has space.

[gincamelbak]

Phone the midwife and check you are still in the same nhs board. When pregnant with DD, at around 34wks I swapped hospital for the birth. They let me stay with the same community midwives but the hospital was a different health board so I had to go to the hospital, get all my notes copied over and registered for them. Best to check with your midwife if you need to do this or if you can stay under their care and they should be able to let you know what to do about appointments etc.

(Also in Scotland)

[Clobbered]

The letter was probably generated by a computer and hasn't been read or checked by a human being who knows your situation. I would try to speak to your old midwife and see if she will see you.
Either way you will need to find a surgery close to your new home as you'll be needing them with a new baby and so on.
I'm afraid this is pretty standard practice for most GP surgeries these days. It simply isn't practical or possible for them to have huge catchment areas like they once did.

[TheScenicRoute]

Seriously checks out NHS choices, gp surgery reviews before you register anywhere! We have grumbled about our practice over and over again and when I looked them up I discovered patients only rated them as 1&1/2 stars out of 5! So I moved mid pregnancy and I am very happy now. However I appreciate how stressful this must be so late on in pregnancy!

You can appeal, but this might not happen before baby is born, but good luck when you speak yo your midwife. X

[BlueThursday]

My GP and surgery aren't particularly near one another so you might be able to stay with the one you have - I'm Scotland too

[BlueThursday]

GP and midwife I meant sorry!

[Gudgyx]

I moved out of my catchment area around 2 months ago, at around 20 weeks pregnant.

I spoke to the midwife about it - she put a note on her systems with my new address, but told me not to tell the GP just now that I'd moved, as they would make me swap midwife, consultant etc. With a high risk pregnancy and section already agreed, I dont need the hassle.

29 weeks now and still havent told them. Midwife is going to help me out with it closer to end of the pregnancy, so they can get me registered somewhere in my area for HV etc.

Speak to your midwife, I'm sure she will help you out.

[sleeplessbunny]

That's pretty horrible. The first thing I would do is give your old MW a call directly and let her know what has happened. They may well be happy to continue seeing you. I'd also make an appt at the old surgery (as a "visitor" to a neighbour/friend if necessary) and speak personally to one of the doctors there to explain what has happened. I'm sure any reasonable HCP will understand that this is extremely unhelpful at the late stages of pregnancy and I'd hope they'd be able to make an exception for 8 weeks or so.

At the same time I would also make enquiries at a new GP just in case.

I moved house at 38 weeks (not a great idea), this didn't happen to me but the midwives all knew each other & communicated well which made it easier. I registered at the new GP when DC was 2wks or so.