Practicalities of changing GP for uni?

[Cathpot]

Firstly apologies for what may be a very obvious question- DD is off to uni in Scotland and we are in England , so slightly different NHS set up. She has a repeat prescription from the GP here. I am presuming she needs to register with new GP at uni but I don’t know what to advise her about the prescription here as presumably there will be a time lag in the handover. I would get her to ask our GP here but it’s a lengthy quest to get into see anyone in person and they don’t do questions over the phone. Anyone with knowledge of how the signing up with new GP goes? Do they just have to find one or is this stuff generally covered in the intro week?

They do advise you to change, but mine didn't want to, don't think she has seen a GP in person since there, but they have sent several prescriptions to a local pharmacy to university. She's also had a hospital referral plus blood test and scan done (arranged for when she was back home).
All consultations were e-consult or phone so it didn't matter where she was, might be different if they have a need to see a GP in person arise.

Apologies, missed the Scotland part, mine was still in England.

Personally, I’d tell her not to bother. It’s a nightmare to get seen at the doctors the uni recommends and then it’s a telephone appointment. She’s probably better off staying where she is.

Similar issue with my DS

GP gave him 2 months supply when he went

Then he had to go round local pharmacies to find one that accepted electronic prescription from GP
Was actually the first one he went to
I know boots accept most GPs E set up

Thank you for prompt replies! I think I will suggest she holds off and sees how it pans out. Prescription is currently done through the website and I suppose I could collect it and post it if need be.

They encourage you to sign up with a GP as soon as you arrive. Usually if you want to get on their repeat prescription system you need a telephone consult with the GP. At DDs unis medical practice it can take 1-2 weeks to get a routine telephone consult at the beginning of term. I think you can present an English prescription at a Scottish pharmacy but you might need a certificate to get free.

As soon as you register at university, you get deregistered from your home GP. I didn’t know this and I would have told my child not to bother.

Most universities have a campus doctor. My daughter's sent all Freshers a registration form along with all the other welcome bumpf.

Very handy.

https://nhsgp.net/why-students-should-register-with-their-new-local-general-practitioners/

I would absolutely recommend students register with a local practice at university. (I'm a lecturer).

If they fall sick and it impacts any assessments or exams, they'll need doctor's note to support claim for postponed submission.

I think it's really important. I've had students miss lectures just to travel home to see GP before when they haven't changed over. They really need a GP locally. Sexual health, mental health...loads of stuff they need.

Please can I ask a question...

My dd has ADHD and is prescribed stimulant medication under a 'shared care' agreement with her psychiatrist.

Not all GPs agree to do shared care agreements.

What should I therefore do about moving her GP for uni?

Any ideas?

If your usual gp finds out they are at uni they will be removed from their list. They are out of area (unless they are one of the few surgeries that take out of area patients - not many do)

Dd is on a healthcare course and needed to provide proof of jabs in particular MMR. Her electronic notes didn't arrive at the new practice until her second year and the original practice said it no longer had access. So she ended up having to have certain vaccinations again. Anyone with students who are doing healthcare - suggest you print off proof of vaccinations or don't change surgery till this bit of uni registration is over (first few weeks of first term).

DD1 didn't change when she went to Durham.
My thoughts (and hers were:

1. She was not going to go to the doctor for a non-urgent thing without me because she gets panicky (even if I just sit in the waiting room)
2. Our doctors do very good phone consultations so most of the time it's irrelevant where she is; they are also happy to fax prescriptions to the pharmacy of your choice anywhere in the country.
3. If it's an emergency then A&E/111/emergency GP will take her there as much as here (and she's just as likely to have that here)
4. Our GP was full so if she (as she has) moves back home she would have to re-join a different (and much less convenient) practice.
5. She very rarely is ill.

Dd2 I'm in more of two minds.

1. Might be relevant, but actually if she needs it she'll probably go on her own.
2. Same
3. Same
4. Same
5. More often ill, but she's also closer (1 hour away rather than 6) so can always bring her back here if necessary or I could go down there to take her if necessary.

It's pretty straightforward to register as a temporary patient. Some uni GP practices don't like it but both my DC did it.
Alternatively change GPs and become a temporary patient at the home one in holidays.
They will still spend a huge chunk of the year at home.
It's all done electronically now so records should be available digitally instantly

Will she need a repeat prescription while away? Courses are often only 2 blocks of 12 weeks.
I used to visit once a term and take anything with me.

From memory of the open day at DD university we were told not deregister with her own GP as they had a campus medical facility.

Tbh she doesn’t see a doctor regularly and if it was urgent she’d use an and e. Anything routine she’s an hour away by train and could pop home. Same for dental appointments, she has an nhs dentist and it’d be cheaper and easier to come home than find another dentist.

I have a DC in Scotland and we are in England.
It was easy to register with a GP up there and I’d recommend it.
They started during the pandemic and so had all their Covid jabs up there. It helped to have them in the system there.
They needed to go to the GP and urgent out of hours GP a few times while up there. They got in person appointments no problem.
GP registration there gave them the free prescriptions you get in Scotland
Also free eye tests.
Even though they are officially deregistered here, our surgery says that they will see a Uni student that falls ill while visiting their parents home no issues.

As another academic and most relevantly in my capacity as personal tutor, I agree with @Mumteedum

It is fairly rare that a student has an emergency requiring an in-person, immediate visit to the GP. But a couple of times students who have not registered locally have ended up in hospital needlessly. And as @Mumteedum says, the time lost to travel can add up as well as being exhausting, hard to manage and unsanitary.

If the university does not have a student health service, students are supposed to be able to register temporarily in one place without losing privileges in the other. I know it doesn’t always work out in reality.

I have personally found this issue very irritating as my DC have had to register at the GP where they were at University in Scotland even though we live in Scotland only a couple of hours away.
In the 3 month summer vacation they have to re-register as temporary patients at home if they need anything, although for regular prescriptions, the GP in the University town is happy to send to the local pharmacy at home. (Don't know if this would work from England to Scotland though?).
The other issue is that if you are under a specialist for say anything in Aberdeen, when you move to your University GP in a different area of Scotland, you go to the back of the queue (thanks to covid maybe) in the new area and end up with zero follow-up.
Most Scottish Universities tell students they must be registered with an NHS GP locally if they are there for 3 months or more. this makes sense as I think 3 months is the length of time you can be temporarily registered with a different GP as a visitor anywhere in the UK.
I think students should be allowed some kind of dual NHS GP registration, as that would make everything much simpler but I suppose the records will never be sufficiently joined up for that to work.

I just posted a long answer and it got eaten...

I agree dual registration for students would be ideal but will never happen as it would cost the DoH money (peanuts but still....).
GP practices do not get paid for seeing temporary residents. If GP surgeries who mainly (or only) see students (happens in some areas where the university creates the main bulk of the population) do not have students registering with them, they are at risk of closing down due to lack of patients and therefore money. Practices are closing at a higher rate than ever before due to the massive reduction in funding since 2010 so this is a real concern.
Home GP practices can normally cope with the odd student turning up as a temporary resident in the holidays as it's not a common event. Uni practices would genuinely struggle.
The additional factor in Scotland is that they do not yet have electronic prescribing so prescriptions cannot be sent to a pharmacy there.
In terms of ADHD, uni GP surgeries are more likely to have experience in this so more likely to share care. The whole point of a shared care agreement though is that a) they are optional and b) secondary care agrees to take over prescribing again if the shared care agreement isn't working. So the psychiatrist should be able to send prescriptions if needed (which I think would be unlikely as mentioned above).
My own child who has an illness requiring regular prescriptions and hospital appointments registered at uni and the service has been better than at home. The GP surgery is less busy (there are very few elderly people living in the city that the uni is in; hopefully that's the reason and not that people aren't registering there) and the nearest hospital is a tertiary referral centre so has a lot of expertise. I don't necessarily expect DC to move back home after uni anyway so registering here would not be a lifelong thing. DC goes there and back in a day if needing an appointment in the holidays as I wouldn't expect our local surgery to see her as a temporary resident. We have an urgent care centre if needed for an emergency.
In summary i would strongly encourage registering at the uni - better if they actually need something urgently whilst away and better for the health service as a whole.

She should register at Uni, if she needs any extensions or support, it will be so much easier to have a local Dr.

The university health services are usually a good call, as they are more expert and set up for the kind of things students get. Lots of popping in for contraception, for example, rather than a complex elderly patient needing a 30min appointment. Therefore there are still drop in sessions, a travel and vaccination clinic, contacts to student services and support services.

Just bear in mind that if her GP is in England they will not be able to send her prescription to a pharmacy in Scotland. So you would have to collect it and post it to her each time.
Something to think about if she gets ill and needs antibiotics. You posting them would obviously delay her taking them.
My dd did switch GP whilst at uni and it was so much better for her. The surgery was linked to the uni so was incredibly helpful with issues common with students.

I registered with the university doctor and personally it was essential. I went to the GP to manage contraception but I also became unwell in my second year of university and needed regular appointments and referrals to the local hospital. Later on at university I sustained an injury that required a sick note from placements and my part time jobs. All of he above would have been a nightmare if I'd have had to travel or deal with it remotely.

I think also with the rise of mental health problems at university I would want my child to have the opportunity to see a GP in person (I accept that MH care, especially secondary care is dire but if someone is depressed the GP will be able to initially support with medication and referral to talking therapies in the first instance).

“The additional factor in Scotland is that they do not yet have electronic prescribing so prescriptions cannot be sent to a pharmacy there.”

Prescriptions can be sent to the pharmacy.