Difficulty registering with a GP - advice please...

Auticko1

Hello, I am having difficulty registering myself and my two kids with a new GP surgery. I could choose another one but this one has good GPs, plenty of on-site parking and is the nearest to my house.

They only register between 12 and 2 pm on a couple of weekdays. When I finally managed to get some time off work to make the trip there, they told they could register me but not my kids because even though I had their passports, they needed their red books. They said I cannot fax copies and I cannot bring the documents outside their hours for registering new patients.

Round two and more time off work, I brought the red books but now they said they needed birth certificates of the kids. I was having none of it as they had not said it the first time and I have never had to provide these before. The trouble is I have misplaced one of the certificates and don't want to waste my time and money asking for a new copy as I am hoping to find it at some point in the future (when it will be of no use for the registration process!).

I have tried to look on the Internet what documents practices need to register new patients but haven't found any mention of birth certificates. They have seen our passports, bills and red books and I am fed up with having to show more and more documents.

I don't want to go to another practice due to lack of parking and long distance from my house. Any advice welcome, please.

Thank you!

jacques_chirac

You don't want to 'waste time' getting the information they have asked for, but you want to go to this surgery because (in the long term) it will save you time. Surely the long term aim is worth the short term inconvenience?

GPs can refuse to register you. If you really want to go here, you need to provide the information they require.

elsien

Here's the link to what they might ask for. So if they've seen the passports, asking for birth cerficates as well does seem a bit OTT.
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1095.aspx?CategoryID=68&SubCategoryID=158

However bear in mind that they don't have to register you at all, or they can deregister you if they decide they don't want you as a patient for whatever reason. So be careful of how you approach it.
Who have you been speaking to so far - if it's the receptionists, would it be worth contacting the practice manager for clarification?

valk_scot

Well, you can't force them to take you on, let alone take you without the documentation they ask for. It may be annoying but it's either produce what they want to complete their paperwork or go elsewhere. It might be worth a phone call just to double check that's indeed everything they need but after that, my advice is to bite the bullet and get another birth certificate issued.

I live in the same registry area as my children's births were registered in so I could just pop in and get a copy issued on the spot, that's the quickest and cheapest way to do it here in Scotland. It may be different in England or if you've moved away from your original area.

FBaby

You might want discuss this with the practice manager. I had the same issue when registering, an over eager receptionist that argued she couldn't accept my passport as it was expired by a week (even though the address matched the one on a recent household bill). I complained to the practice manager, they apologised and registered me immediately. They explained that receptionists are asked to follow the written rules hence the problem, but that they would be trained to be able to make judgement calls.

Savvy_Sue

FBaby wrote: »

You might want discuss this with the practice manager. I had the same issue when registering, an over eager receptionist that argued she couldn't accept my passport as it was expired by a week (even though the address matched the one on a recent household bill).

Do passports have addresses on? I didn't think mine did, or that I had to keep it up to date ....

I agree she was being over-eager not accepting it!