Any GP practice managers?

[MrsGrumpy]

Originally Posted by whlparkstone

I have to apologise. When I read your post I assumed you had recently moved and that you were no longer in the catchment area. Yes I can completely see your point, it does seem unfair, and there is definition no need for the manager to be rude

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No need to apologise! I probably didn't make it clear xx

[GrumpyDopey&Me]

I work at a GP surgery and anyone that moves out the boundaries is deducted and this has happened since Covid. I think as the funding is getting more stringent especially due to Covid also it could be that the GP surgery is getting to the top amount of patients it has and needs to keep it to people in that catchment area.

Just had a google and you could possibly argue with this

nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs...-gp-practices/

[daisymae]

My son was with our practice since the day he was born. He bought his own house and moved out with the area but it takes the same time to get to the practice as it did from our house. He didn’t change his address but unfortunately he had counselling from a private company that sent a report to the doctor who discovered that his address had been changed. He suffers from severe anxiety and depression but was told that he had to find a new practice which he has but is actually further away from his house than our practice.

[Talland 2016]

Any new building of estates in the area covered by the practice?
I’m wondering if the practice has to cover an extra couple of hundred patients in their specified area they will have less room for those people outside their designated practice boundary
Hope you are able to get an answer

[MrsGrumpy]

Originally Posted by GrumpyDopey&Me

I work at a GP surgery and anyone that moves out the boundaries is deducted and this has happened since Covid. I think as the funding is getting more stringent especially due to Covid also it could be that the GP surgery is getting to the top amount of patients it has and needs to keep it to people in that catchment area.

Just had a google and you could possibly argue with this

nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs...-gp-practices/

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Thanks for this. I wouldn't mind if we had moved and then received the letter, we are still at the same address (half a mile outside their boundary) at which they accepted us two years ago! I was also told prior to this that they were looking for new patients!

[MrsGrumpy]

Originally Posted by daisymae

My son was with our practice since the day he was born. He bought his own house and moved out with the area but it takes the same time to get to the practice as it did from our house. He didn’t change his address but unfortunately he had counselling from a private company that sent a report to the doctor who discovered that his address had been changed. He suffers from severe anxiety and depression but was told that he had to find a new practice which he has but is actually further away from his house than our practice.

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We are half a mile outside the practice boundary and have been there for over two years. Could understand it if we had moved. It is so frustrating, the GP we see is more than happy to keep us but the head GP who owns the practice has told her it is NHS policy. We both have ongoing serious health issues (DH is receiving treatment for cancer) and our GP has told us continuity of care makes better sense. After all those months of shielding we could really do without all this extra stress

[DrMagical]

At my practice we have 2 boundaries - an inner and outer boundary. If you move to inside the inner boundary you can register with us. If you are our patient and move outside the inner boundary but still within the outer boundary you can stay on with us. If you move outside the outer boundary you will be deducted. I know there will be cases of 'just outside' the boundary but there has to be a cut off somewhere - how far do we drive on a visit or expect someone ill to make there way to us? 5 miles? 10 miles? 20 miles?
There is a scheme that practices can sign up to (at least in our region) whereby the patient if they want to stay on at the practice but have moved out of the area agree that they remain on the list but cannot request a house call. This sounds fine in principle but becomes unfair to those getting frailer or struck down by serious illness who have to be told at their greatest hour of need - you're off the list because you are making too many requests to be seen! Therefore we didn't sign up to the scheme.

[Myakka17]

Originally Posted by MrsGrumpy

We offered to sign the agreement not to ask for home visits but got shouted at. If it is an issue now why didn't they raise it when we first listed?!

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Surely the precedence was set when they accepted you. I would write back with that in mind.
They can’t accept you then remove you when it suits them.
Is there an ombudsman or any other body as a course of appeal.

[MrsGrumpy]

Originally Posted by DrMagical

At my practice we have 2 boundaries - an inner and outer boundary. If you move to inside the inner boundary you can register with us. If you are our patient and move outside the inner boundary but still within the outer boundary you can stay on with us. If you move outside the outer boundary you will be deducted. I know there will be cases of 'just outside' the boundary but there has to be a cut off somewhere - how far do we drive on a visit or expect someone ill to make there way to us? 5 miles? 10 miles? 20 miles?
There is a scheme that practices can sign up to (at least in our region) whereby the patient if they want to stay on at the practice but have moved out of the area agree that they remain on the list but cannot request a house call. This sounds fine in principle but becomes unfair to those getting frailer or struck down by serious illness who have to be told at their greatest hour of need - you're off the list because you are making too many requests to be seen! Therefore we didn't sign up to the scheme.

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Have you been told by the NHS to remove patients already registered who are not moving from your list because of COVID though DrMagical? I could understand if we had not been registered before but nothing in our situation has changed!

[mickchick]

Sorry to be the bearer of disappointing news, OP, but the NHS has instructed all Health Trusts to tell GPs to carry out an audit of patients and to deduct those who fall outside their catchment area. The surgeries will not receive further funding for any off-catchment patients who remain on their lists. This is part of an ongoing review; some health trusts are quicker off the mark than others in implementing this, but it has been expedited since the outbreak of covid-19.
It makes no difference that you have been on your GPs list for some time and are only now being told you have to move; if the surgery is no longer being paid to treat you, then - as all surgeries are required by law to run as a business - you cannot expect them to work for nothing and be penalised. In any case, catchment areas change all the time with the shifting and ageing population and the building of new homes. It is happening all over the UK.
It is of course a shame that you are happy with the GP you have been seeing all this time and must now change, particularly as your doctor is happy for you to stay. But it is the call of the senior partner and the practice manager, both of whom have to abide by the decisions of the health trust and consequently the NHS, or lose crucial funding, thus putting other patients who do live inside the catchment area, at risk.