Moving & changing GP

[sickasapug]

Hi everyone

DF is moving in with DH & I soon. We all need to register with a new GP but DF has quite complex health needs. He is under various departments at the local hospital & I am wondering how this works.

Do I just register him with a new GP & they sort out his various specialists? Or do I have to contact the local hospital departments. DF needs to attend one clinic every 6-8 weeks, so I am also concerned about the time it will take.

I'd appreciate any help from someone who has been through this- a bit overwhelmed with all of the organising at the moment.

Thanks

Is the local hospital local to you too? So he will continue to be treated by the same hospital departments as he is now?

I would go into your surgery and check but in that case I think it should be reasonably straight forward. The hospital will become aware he's changed GP, and they'll confirm it with him at his next appointment. This may take a bit of time to happen and the need for urgency is whether he's got test results being sent back to the practice and things like that.

His records will transfer from one practice to another, although it will be very useful to get a list of his recent medication and things like that, as ensuring repeat prescriptions get set up in time is probably the most urgent task.

They supposedly join up but having recently been through this I’d recommend contacting each department individually

Thanks for your reply. We are all moving - 200 miles away, so it will be a new GP & hospital for us.

Although we've purchased our new house, we are not officially moving for a couple of months - so I've got time to get this sorted.

I probably think the best place to start is to talk to the new practice

Thanks - you are probably right. Gosh there's so much to do!!

Okay that is going to be very complicated. Obvs not impossible but not straight forward. It's good you're leaving yourself a good amount of time to get this sorted out.

I'm a Practice Manager. I would suggest making an appointment with the new GP as soon as you can to get medications authorised. The new GP may need to make new referrals as departments and support networks may not be the same in your new location.

If he is under hospital specialists then he needs to ask them to refer him on to the appropriate departments at the hospital in the new area. Then they will provide a summary of his condition and previous letters. Otherwise the new GP would have to refer him to the new hospital. (I am a hospital specialist and have referred patients on when they moved house)

Thanks everyone

I think I just needed to write it down & get a plan together