GP registration without birth certificate

[rothbard]

Hi - my wife and I just tried registering our newborn son with the local GP surgery, but were told they wouldn't register him without a full birth certificate. We don't have a birth certificate yet, since the first appointment for registration is over a week away.

Is it true that a full birth certificate is needed to register a child with a GP? The person at the surgery couldn't give us any reference on this, she just said her boss had told her so, and the boss wasn't available to discuss.

Thanks.

I thought a baby was covered with the mother until registered in their own right.

Hi, that’s what I was told too. But was also told if baby needs seeing you could book under your own name.

You should be able to register with red book and dishcharge notes.

We needed the BC to register both DC as patients at our surgery. Possibly because it's how they determine that the people with the baby have parental responsibility for the infant. They already had a CHI reference number and their red books from the Health Visiting team.

Thanks for your replies. I am just wondering if there are any legal requirements about this, or if any GP surgery or receptionist can essentially come up with their own rules.

I’ve registered 5 newborns at different GPS over the years and never been asked this. I presume because they know it’s mine having dealt with the medical care and receiving the birth notification? One of mine I registered months after birth. Way after a few appointments and a hospital admission (one at 4 days old under the name ‘baby’)

In my area, the birth cert is needed to complete the registration process.
Any surgery should see the baby as a temporary patient if necessary, and then once they see the birth cert they will complete registration.

We needed bc to register. Was told if I need an appointment before then to book it in my name.

At our surgery I didn't need to provide birth certificate for either of my two just had their nhs number which was on paperwork from the hospital they were born at

Thanks. Our surgery in Lewisham won't even see the baby without a birth certificate (not even if the appointment is booked in the mother's name). We have called Healthwatch and they said they would get back to us with some advice on this.

I didn't even need my red book to register my daughter just her NHS number. Definitely didn't need her birth certificate

I had to take DS birth certificate to register him with the GP

I wonder how this would work - I had to take a 8 hour old baby who was born at home in for his newborn checks as my GP would not come out to do them at home. Funnily enough in those 8 hours after giving birth although I'd had time to have a shower and make a GP appointment I'd not had time to also make and go to a registrar appointment.

We are in a different London Borough to you and didn't need our birth certificate. Here the waiting times to register births are at least a month even if it's the first thing you do once you have given birth. The hospital gave us an envelope and said this has all the info the GPs surgery will need, which was true. This was earlier in 2019.

My GP surgery requires the full BC and I had to my current DL to prove I was still living at my address and had not moved house

Hi, thank you for all your replies. I just wanted to add that Healthwatch Lewisham have sent us the following link, according to which any GP surgery is supposed to provide emergency treatment to babies, even when they are not registered:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/services-support-for-parents/