Registration of New Patients Guidelines

We have been made aware of some questions with regard to whether or not a patient’s request for registration can be refused by a practice. This is a complex area but the golden rule is that you must always use a consistent approach. A practice can refuse to register any patient as long as the grounds are not discriminatory on the usual grounds such as race, gender, social class, age, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, disability or medical condition. Any other reasonable reason is acceptable and this may include the inability of the practice to provide the service because of resource issues. It is, however, imperative that any application of a non-discriminatory reason is applied consistently to all applicants. There is also a requirement to notify the applicant in writing of the refusal and the reason for it, and to keep a record of refusals and the reasons for them and make them available to the PCT on request. There is one important proviso in all this, and that is the definition of an application. The regulations are clear that an application is made by delivering to the practice premises a medical card or an application signed by the applicant or a person authorised by the applicant to sign on his behalf; in practice this means that the majority of refusals do not follow an ‘application’ as they are oral applications with oral refusals. Whether or not the application is a formal written one or an oral one we must stress that there should be no discrimination and that a consistent approach is required.

Patient Transport & Bed Bureau (JCUH)

JCUH have been carrying out a review of their bed bureau in a bid improve the service it provides to GPs. They have asked the LMC to remind GPs that they should only call bed bureau if they are looking to make a referral and/or wish to discuss a patient with a consultant. In order improve the bed bureau service and minimise telephone queues/GP waiting times it is important that any ‘other’ calls are reduced and directed to the most appropriate place. The bed bureau is receiving a substantive number of calls with regard to to organising patient transport. Neither GPs nor the bed bureau are responsible for organising routine (non urgent) patient transport and requests should not be fielded this way. Patient transport is organised through an external company and GPs may wish to provide their patients with the relevent number for the Transport Information Service/Patient Ambulance Booking Line which is 0345 045 0160.

Electronic Prescription Service Survey

NHS Connecting for Health is keen to gather information from end users on their understanding and attitude towards the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS), and invite users to complete this online feedback form which is aimed at dispensing and prescribing staff who have access to EPS Release 1 and should take less than 5 minutes to complete. The information gathered will help to determine if there are any knowledge gaps and identify any improvements which can be made to the communications and guidance material available to support end users in getting the most from EPS Release 1 and Release 2.

LMC Conference Report

This 2011 LMC Conference Report summarises some of the Conference’s key policy decisions and how these are being taken forward by the GPC.

Eric Gambrill Memorial Fund Recipients

The Board of Trustees of the Eric Gambrill Memorial Fund, under the Chairmanship of the late Dr. Trevor Silver, FRCGP, would like to congratulate the recipients of £3,000 awards for 2011 – Dr. Deepun Gosrani, Barnstaple, Devonshire. for her project “Causative factors in the delayed presentation and treatment of illnesses in a rural South African Hospital”, starting April 2011 and Dr. Sally Venn, Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent for her project “Developing a Quality Assurance framework for a community health worker programme covering over 50 communities in India”, starting April 2011. This Fund is an excellent source of support for GPs and a good way of getting funding for GP research, and travel and other costs in particular. There is no fixed limit to the awards. Sadly, Dr. Silver died on 22 June 2011, shortly after the latest trustees’ meeting. A new Chairman will be elected at the next Board Meeting on 10 November 2011. In the meantime, Professor R.G. Hornung has become Acting Chairman until that meeting.