Out of area registration

Registering with us as a new patient if you live outside our catchment area but are working within HA9 0 Postcode 

If you are thinking of joining us and you are out of our catchment area, you must agree to these rules.

Out of Area Registration

Wembley Park Medical Centre recognises that not all patients wish to register at a surgery close to their home address. Many patients prefer to register closer to their place of work or study. In order to address this demand we are introducing a new type of registration called “Out of Area” (OOA) Registration.

OOA Registration offers the patients all the services usually associated with registration, with two exceptions: Home Visits and urgent treatment (if you cannot come to the practice). If an OOA Registered patient is unwell and needs to be seen at home, whatever the time of day or night, they can call 111 (urgent) or 999 (emergency) and get the care they needed.

There are some patients who are not suitable for OOA registration. These include any patient who is likely to require input from a specialist team who are geographically located according to their home, not their GP address.

This includes (but not limited to) patients / services in the following services:

• Pregnant women/ Antenatal services
• Families with children aged 15 years or younger
• Patients with mental health problems who many need support from mental health teams 
• Patients or Families with Child Safeguarding needs/ Children’s Social Care
• Patients with Adult Safeguarding needs/ Adult Social Care
• Patients with complex community-based care/ Adult Social Care

The reasons for denying the option of OOA registration to patients in groups such as these is that their health and social care needs are based met through registration close to where they live. It is difficult and impractical for GP’s to coordinate such care remotely with services, with which they do not already have strong professional working relationships.

The practice has the right to decline to register any patient from these categories or if a current patient, request the patient to register elsewhere if their circumstances result in them entering one of these groups while being registered as OOA at our practice.

OOA registration will, we hope, allow patients who are pleased with the level of care our service provides to remain with our practice should they move away, if they wish, we also hope that patients who travel to work or study in the Wembley Park area, and who are therefore part of our community, might also have access to our GP surgery.

Please note that registering as an OOA patient you may sometimes need a referral to a particular service. Sometimes there are restrictions to how and where we can refer you as some referrals are based on your address. We are at times limited when it comes to referrals beyond our local area. So there may be times a referral will be rejected simply based on your home address which is out of our control. 

Also note, if we agree to keep you registered you must agree to attend any ‘review’ appointments. If you repeatedly fail to attend an appointment for these reviews, we may remove you from the practice list and advised you to register to a GP practice to your home address.

FAQS

1) What happens initially after I join the practice as an out of area patient or change my address which is out of area?

Over the first few weeks a doctor will review your notes. If newly registered, it may take longer for us to review them as there may be a delay in receiving your previous medical records. If the doctor assesses that you (or any member of your family (under 16 years) are not suitable to stay on as an out of area patient at Wembley Park MC , we will send you a letter to let you know. We will also inform you by text message if we hold a mobile number for you on our records. We will then start proceedings to remove you (and your family, if applicable) from the practice which normally takes 30 days. This should give you enough time to register with another GP practice. We only remove you if we feel that your care will be restricted and it would be best for you to be registered closer to home.

Until you hear from us otherwise, you can stay registered with us as an OOA patient. If you move back within our catchment area, please let us know your new address as soon as possible so we can then register you as a regular patient without any restrictions.

2) Why do I have to be registered as an out of area patient; why can I not be registered as a regular patient?

All GP surgeries across the UK, agree their catchment area with their local CCG, which indicates how far they are able to provide safely home visits and urgent treatment for their patients, which is also our case. While we endeavour to provide care to as many patients as possible we cannot safely offer home visits or urgent treatment for patients beyond our catchment area. This is why we need to register patients living outside of our catchment areas, as out-of-area patients.

3) What if I move back into the catchment area, after being registered as out of area?

Simply complete the change of address form, above. If accepted, we will then re-register you as a regular patient. Then the above rules will no longer apply to you.

4) What if I do not agree to out of area restrictions?

We do not have to accept patients that live outside of our catchment area, but we are allowed to, if it is safe to do so and in the patient’s best interest. The restrictions are in place are set by NHS England and local ICB.

If you do not agree, you simply need to register to a GP closer to your home address to get the full benefits of a GP service which they can offer to you within their catchment area.

5) What if I develop one of the exclusions above whilst registered as an out of area patient?

A doctor reviews OOA patients on a regular basis, and on an ADHOC patient by patient basis.

If they notice you are fall under any of the exclusions, we will regrettably have to remove you from our list and you will need to register with a GP practice closer to home.

We do not remove out of area patients without a valid reason, if we have to it’s because it is for your safety to ensure you get the full and safe care a GP service can offer you.

You will be notified and given 14 days to find a different GP surgery, which by the end of the 14 days, you no longer be a patient at Wembley Park Medical Centre.

6) What if I have children under 16 years old and I am removed, can they stay registered?

No, the children will also be deducted, as children under the age of 16 need to be registered with their parent/guardian. Also, we cannot accept an out of area registration or accept to keep you registered, if the family has a children under 16 years old.

7) What if I want to complain about this?

Any questions, please ask us.

We understand that you may like continuity of care, but this is in place to protect you, to ensure safety.

We love to keep all our patients, but safety of your care is of utmost importance, and if there are limitations to what care we can provide you, it would be in your best interest to be at a surgery closer to home, so you get the full benefits of a GP surgery as a regular patient.