Registering as a new patient

Accountable / named GP for all patients

All patients registered at the practice have a named doctor who has overall responsibility for your care and support. If you choose to see another doctor at the surgery, you are entirely free to go on doing so exactly as before.

If you live within our practice area you are welcome to register with us.  The Patient Coordinator team will be happy to guide you through the procedure. Eligibility will need to be confirmed and you will need to provide photographic identity, eg passport/photo driving licence card, and 1 utility bill/bank statement showing your current address. (don't worry, this is detailed in the registration form).

Our practice boundary

The area outlined and shaded in green is where we can register new patients from. If an existing patient already registered with us relocates outside this boundary to the additional outlined boundary (shaded in peach) they can remain on our patient list. New patients cannot register if they live in the additional outlined area.

See larger version of this boundary map at Google Maps

The registration process

1. Read our Welcome letter for patients joining the practice
2. Open our New patient registration form (Word document) and save a copy to your device.
3. Once open, you can either print and complete the form by hand and return it to the practice with your ID (we need two forms of ID - one photo ID and one with your current address on such as a utility bill or bank statement), or you can now enter all the information directly into the form on your computer as the document allows you to type in the form fields.
4. If typing into the form, when you have completed it, save a copy of the form and email it to us at  soccg.townhillsurgery@nhs.net along with two scanned forms of ID as detailed above. We can accept copies of these sent via email. If you do not have two the forms of ID, you will still be able to register with us.
5. Read the section 'What about my medicines' below, carefully.  To issue you drugs, we must have official notification.

What about my medicines?

When you join a new surgery, it isn't as simple as just registering and your new surgery being able to readily prescribe you drugs.  Your new surgery needs some authorisation to do this. 

The new surgery requests your entire medical record electronically from your previous surgery.  As you can imagine, receiving your actual medical notes is not immediate. There are a couple of important things you can do to make your transition between surgeries as smooth as possible:

1. Let your surgery know you are moving - they should be happy to give you 2 months' supply of your regular drugs to tide you over.
2. Ask you current surgery for a print out of  your medications or the repeat side of a regular prescription - tell the receptionist you need it to enable you to register at a new surgery.

New patient health check

All new patients are offered a health check with a member of the healthcare team to ensure that any required tests are up to date and that we have an accurate note of any repeat medication you may be taking. If you are on regular long-term medication you will need to be seen before we issue your first prescription.

Temporary registration

If you are ill while away from home or if you are not registered with a doctor but need to see one you can receive emergency treatment from the local GP practice for 14 days. After 14 days you will need to register as a temporary or permanent patient.

You can be registered as a temporary patient for up to three months. This will allow you to be on the local practice list and remain a patient of your permanent GP. After three months you will have to re-register as a temporary patient or permanently register with that practice.

To register as a temporary patient simply contact the local practice you wish to use. Practices do not have to accept you as a temporary patient although they do have an obligation to offer emergency treatment. You cannot register as a temporary patient at a practice in the town or area where you are already registered.

Download our temporary resident patient registration form (for patients staying less than 3 months). This form is not interactive and will need to be printed, filled out and returned to the surgery.

Non-registered patients

An appointment for immediately necessary treatment is only available to people who have incurred an accident or medical emergency at any place in our practice area and who require GP services.  If the resulting condition is potentially life threatening an ambulance should be called using the 999 service.

In addition, if you are away from your normal place of residence and are staying within our practice area for more than 24 hours and less than 3 months, you may also request an appointment.

Change of personal details

If you change your name, address, telephone number or email, please remember to inform us. This may be done by visiting the surgery, phoning us, submitting our change of personal details form or by updating your record at Patient Access (you need to be a registered Patient Access user).

Non-English speakers

These fact sheets have been written to explain the role of UK health services, the National Health Service (NHS), to newly arrived individuals seeking asylum. They cover issues such as the role of GPs, their function as gatekeepers to the health services, how to register and how to access emergency services. Special care has been taken to ensure that information is given in clear language, and the content and style has been tested with user groups.

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