To think someone shouldn’t be registered with a doctor half an hour from where they live

[User6007000]

A friend of mine is registered at the same gp as me and she lives half an hour a way from the gp. Aibu to think this shouldn’t be allowed? Where she lives is still the same health care trust. She said there is a law which allowed her to do this? I have always thought gp’s have catchment areas

She has a doctors about a mile from her

And???

My Drs’ allow anyone to register with them, I was told they have patients who live over 20 miles away. As long as they don’t ask for a home visit it is absolutely fine.

The GPS who own the practice can have leeway in deciding who is allowed to register there. It’s up to them as they are the ones who have to travel for home visits. If your friends GP is happy to keep her on their registers, it’s really a complete non issue.

The rules were changed a few years ago, I guess to try and make it easier for people to access GP services, maybe close to a workplace rather than home etc. Its not binding that surgeries have to accept a patient, I believe. I imagine they'd need a good reason to decline, though.

And I live in one county and my Drs surgery is in another.

MYOB? Why do you care?

What the hell? Why not? What difference does it make to you? Or to anything?

Nothing wrong with that unless she's lying about where she lives. It's good to have a consistent doctors surgery if possible.

If they let her register there, then surely that is up to the practice and your friend? Not you.

@Hennysmommy
You don't have an automatic right to stay with your GP if you move out of their practice area. It's up to them.
www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/nhs-services-and-treatments/what-should-i-do-if-my-gp-removes-me-from-their-list/
I was removed from my GPS list when I moved 20 mins away. I probably see the GP every couple of years, so I'm not exactly needy. I was really sad to move as I'd been with the same gp for 30 years!

My nearest GP was half an hour away from me.

You can register with any GP you like - but it is up to them if they accept you if you live out of catchment. Why on earth do you care though?

The surgery I work in has a catchment area. When people move they are sent a letter advising them they have 28 days to register with a surgery local to them.
We have enough problems finding appointments to fit local people in to be seen. It’s a (small) way of keeping the numbers down.
Our drs do make house calls to housebound patients btw, as do the drs at the surgery I’m registered at.

How does her choice of GP impact on you ?

I’m not at my closest gp as the HV there was horrid and when I had another baby I didn’t want to risk seeing her again so registered at a one that is a bus ride away. Why do you care?!

My DD1's GP is currently 40 miles away in a couple of weeks she is moving closer so will be 20 miles.. she is autistic plus anxiety and over health problems and this surgery is the only one she feels understand her and she feels happy and safe with. I don't see why she should have to change because she is out of area..

My gp is probably about 45 minutes away from my home, but it's closer to work, and any (rare) appointments I have will always be during working hours, so this makes sense, otherwise I'd need to take half a day off every time I needed a five minute appointment!

I’m a GP. My practice only registers patients who live in our large town (population of about 50,000), but we don’t deregister people who move away.

We won’t do home visits for people who live outside the town, but apart from that it really doesn’t matter how far away they live.

I don't know why GPs have a catchment at all, as you need a letter from the Holy Ghost for a home visit.

So no, I don't think it's unreasonable if the GP accept her as a patient.

This is a problem for you why exactly?

Half an hour's what? Walk? Drive? Maybe she has a complex medical history that she can't face explaining to yet another GP. Or maybe... it's just none of your business

I had similar feelings about our local GPs, OP. We live less than 5 minutes walk away and it's a good surgery. Over the last 5 years it's become harder to get an appointment. I was in there once and heard someone give their address who lived on the other side of town so when I got home I emailed the surgery to enquire about their patient acceptance policy. They said they have two catchment areas; inner and outer ring. So no one was breaking the rules. I relaxed then as it's not the patients fault or the GPs, it was the local care commission who set the rings. I think reading between the lines, the GPs wished they had more control because they were becoming a victim of their own success as people went past several other GPs to get to our one cause it's good

Not everyone lives in a large town or city.
There is a real issue about people often not seeing a doctor in time, especially men. If being registered near to work or another family member makes them more likely to seek medical help when needed, that is a good thing.
You might want to keep the same GP when you move house.
You might have lost confidence in a surgery for a reason.

Fairly unusual, my doctor moved. The lease wasn't renewed on the surgery 5 mins from me. The practise moved to the community hospital 50 mins away. Once you find a good doctor you don't give them up unless you really have to.

I personally think it makes sense to register near work - that's 40 miles away for me but I'd actually be able to accept an 8am appointment and make it to work on time if I did 🤷🏻‍♀️
I have to take most of the morning off to have an appointment at my nearest surgery.

You can register with any gp in your area but they won't do house calls (very few people have them these days but for the housebound they still need to be in the area)