Catchment area
Before filling out a registration form, check you are in our catchment area.
We accept registrations from patients living outside of our catchment area, however there is a separate process for this which cannot be completed online. Please contact us / come in to the practice to find out more information.
See information below on ‘Out Of Area Registrations’
Find out which GPs you can register with on the NHS website.
Registering with the surgery
To register with the surgery:
- fill out an online registration form
- visit reception from 10am to 6pm and collect a paper registration form
When you register, it’s helpful to have your NHS number. You can use the NHS website to find your NHS number.
Named GP
All patients at The Nelson Medical Practice have a named, accountable doctor who is responsible for coordinating their care.
Your named doctor will be allocated to you by the practice. You can still talk to or make appointments to see any of our doctors or nurses, not just your named GP.
If you have a preference and would like to request a particular doctor at the practice to be your named GP please talk to one of our receptionists.
Out of area registrations
Out Of Area registration allows patients to remain with our practice should they move away, if they wish, and new patients living outside of our catchment area to register at the practice.
New patients – If your address is outside of our catchment area but you would like to register at our practice, there is a separate process for this which cannot be completed online. Please contact us/come into the practice to find out more information.
Out Of Area 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 requires a home visit, they can call 111 (urgent) or 999 (emergency) and get the care they needed. Out Of Area patients are required to sign a declaration form, accepting these terms, before their registration is completed.
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 serious mental health problems (e.g. Psychosis, Bi-Polar, Schizophrenia) who many need support from mental health specialist teams (e.g. Community Mental Health Team)
- Patients or Families with Child Safeguarding needs/ Children’s Social Care
- Patients with Adult Safeguarding needs/ Adult Social Care
- Patients with complex community-based packages of 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.
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 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. If you are seeking a referral, it may be better to join a GP practice closer to home to avoid any possible delays to any treatment (including urgent treatment, such as urgent suspected cancer referrals).
Also note, if we agree to keep you registered you must agree to attend any ‘review’ appointments. If you fail to attend an appointment for these reviews following your third invite, we may remove you from the practice list and advise you to register to a GP practice to your home address.
To be accepted as an out of area patient, you must live outside our catchment area but within England, if you live outside of England, unfortunately we cannot accept your registration or keep you registered as a patient.