Total Patient Triage

Fairbrook Medical Centre now uses a Total Patient Triage system. This allows us to be able to prioritise patients by clinical need and navigating patients to the most appropriate clinician or pathway.

Need help with a non-urgent medical or admin request? Contact us online.

Out of Area Registration

New arrangements introduced from January 2015 give people greater choice when choosing a GP practice. Patients may approach any GP practice, even if they live outside the practice area, to see if they will be accepted on to the patient list.

The new arrangements mean GP practices now have the option to register patients who live outside the practice area but without any obligation to provide home visits.

Out of area registration (with or without home visits) is voluntary for GP practices meaning patients may be refused because they live out of area.

If your application is considered the GP practice will only register you without home visits if it is clinically appropriate and practical in your individual case.

When is it clinically appropriate and practical to register out of area patients without home visits?

When a patient approaches the GP practice to apply to register as an out of area patient and the practice wishes to consider their registration without an obligation to provide home visits it will need to decide whether it is clinically appropriate and practical for the individual patient.

While it is for the practice to form this opinion based on the individual circumstances of the patient, practices will want to consider if there are clinical conditions or care needs which mean registration without the ability to do home visits would compromise clinical care, and the patient’s needs would be better met through registration with a practice near to where they live. (For example, the patient does not have any complex long-term conditions that mean they are receiving a package of home-based care or community-based support which would be difficult for the practice to coordinate remotely; or, the patient relies on frequent home visits from their current GP practice.)

In addition to establishing such information directly from patients, practices may agree with the patient to contact their current/previous practice for further information if they have any clinical concerns about registering them outside their home area. Other examples of concern would be concerns around child and adult safeguarding.

If the practice decides it is not clinically appropriate or practical for the patient to be registered away from home it will give its reasons for this. There is no right of appeal for the patient against the decision. The practice must be able to give reasons as to why registration was declined. Given the limitations of this type of registration, it is not discriminatory to advise a patient is unsuitable for registration on clinical grounds. The practice remains free to offer registration in a usual way, as to any other patient i.e. with duty to provide home visits etc. but is not obliged to do so.

If accepted, you will attend the practice and receive the full range of services provided as normal at the surgery (except home visits). If you have an urgent care need or require a home visit we will ask you to call NHS 111 and they will put you in touch with a local service (this may be a face to face appointment with a local healthcare professional or a home visit where necessary).

Once accepted if your health needs change we will review your registration to see if it would be more appropriate for you to be registered with a GP practice closer to your home.

This new arrangement only applies to GP practices and patients who live in England. For further information visit the NHS website (www.nhs.uk)

How do I register as an Out of Area Patient?

You can register as an out of area patient online through our website. We will review your application in 7 working days.