The NHS in England is working on plans to allow patients to register with a GP practice online, as part of the Government’s wide-ranging review into reducing unnecessary bureaucracy.
NHS Digital is encouraging GPs to fill in a 10-minute form to help them understand the information and data that is needed for registration.
The project to ‘modernise and standardise’ they way people register with general practice is part of the GP bureaucracy review with the aim of reducing the administrative burden on practices.
GP practice staff are being asked what information is essential, preferable or not needed on a wide range of topics including organ donation, medical information, proof of identity, nationality, BMI, date of last flu vaccination and smear test and if they are registered as disabled.
In all there are 73 questions, the answers to which will guide how online registration works for the project which is being done jointly by NHS Digital, NHS England and NHSX.
It also includes question around residency status and language needs and carer responsibilities.
‘We are progressing some work to modernise and standardise how people register with a GP practice,’ NHS Digital said.
‘This includes developing a solution that will allow people to register online.
‘We want to hear from both citizens and GP practices to help shape this work. This exercise is to help us understand the various information requirements at the point of registration and how that information is used.’
To date, the GP bureaucracy review has resulted proposals to cut GP appraisals back from five hours to 30 minutes; reform fit notes so more healthcare professionals can issue them; allow death certificates to be emailed and ‘permanently remove the cremation form 5 requirement’. The CQC has also said it would be ‘moving away from periodic inspections’.
A Government consultation on reducing GP bureaucracy was published in November last year.
READERS' COMMENTS [8]
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That’s wonderful news, it will free up so much time that I will no longer be drinking cold tea
My surgery is in its second week of staff illnesses—–I don’t believe them—-funny how it’s now the holiday season—–they will do anything to try and close their doors—-I offered my services as a locum a while back——suggested they could pay me when they had enough money—–no reply—-they’re so busy you see—-having meetings etc.
Anecdotes. A lot of patients currently *lie* about their current address. I’m not sure that bodes well for a professional relationship. They move to Timbuktu and play you like a fool with telephone consultations and you might catch them when you get a FF in, or call them for a smear. GPs have been consulting people living hundreds of miles away though the pandemic and EPSing convenience medicine which you never EVER recognised. And this silkiness is still going on. People living in the countryside, using the city as their healthcare Hub. This isn’t happening between Beijing and Shanghai or Adelaide and Sydney. Just so your form knows. Put on your form also if you DNA three times you’ll be deducted and if your violent or aggressive you can say goodbye. The profession will want that in RED.
Put on illicit drugs too. No one’s telling the truth on that. And they can’t be bothered to fill in your silly alcohol questionnaire either or write the actual name of their drug or allergy.
You might want to find a solution to honesty and safety and actual patient responsibility at registration as even a kid could fill in better forms than some, and work from there. Its like giving the Border Force fake landing cards, and you saying great, come on in.
A ghost patients’ charter?
Healthcare is only for people who own a fancy laptop or mobile phone. its not for the homeless, illiterate, elderly or blind and it’s certainly not for anyone with below average IQ or someone born outside the UK recently arrived who never went to school – why would anyone like this need to register with a GP? and honestly do people like this REALLY exist in any numbers anyway? Even if they did surely they could just pop round a friends house and borrow their iPhone or book an appointment at citizens advice? Marvellous
..”below average IQ” by definition represents half the population of the UK by the way, just to remind ourselves of that
I’m not sure how you create a reg form applicable to the needs of 9 billion people. All welcome. All free. Let’s keep dodging the real issues. What next? How to streamline the MatB1 form? Can’t even sort that one out with the right team.
Surely that’s incorrect. The Average references the mean whereas the median would result in the situation you describe. Unless you have a perfectly symmetrical distribution around the median. Just saying… đŸ™‚