CHANGE GP WHEN YOU MOVE

[Gymbuddie]

Dear All,

I was with my previous GP for approximately 45 years. I moved areas and I did not want to change my GP but the surgery told me that I have to on the basis that because of my condition I may need to go into a hospice/require a Dr to come up and see me.

However, having changed my GP and had 2 appointments with my new surgery, I regret it terribly. So my question is do you have to change your GP if you change areas?

I would be grateful to hear any suggestions.

Best wishes to you all.

[RoyCastleHelpline Partner Ask the Nurse Roy Castle]

Hi Gymbuddie

Sorry to hear of your circumstances. Unfortunately if you move out of your local area, then it is advisable to change to a GP to your new area, to allow access to their services e.g. district nurses etc.

GP practice cover strict boundaries within a local area which provide primary care services.

This is taken from the NHS link that I will place below:

"Registering with a GP surgery outside your local area can affect the NHS services that you can access including:

home visits and urgent care from your GP, including out of hours care

community services, such as physiotherapy and midwife appointments"

nhs.uk/nhs-services/gps/reg...

You may wish to discuss it with your previous practice, but it could be affect if you ever need community or home visits as they will not cover specific areas.

Perhaps there is another practice within your area or see a different GP within your current practice.

This must be understandably difficult for you when you have been with a specific practice for so long, you could ask to speak to the practice manager, but it may be that they have to abide by their guidelines.

If you would like to discuss anything you can call our free phone number on 0800 358 7200 Monday to Thursday 0900-1700 and Friday 0900-1600, alternatively you can email us at [e-mail]

Kind regards

The Roy Castle Support Team

[Gymbuddie in reply to RoyCastleHelpline]

Thank you for your response. That's helpful. I think I will just have to change my GP again.

[Justbreathe67]

Hi I'm in the same situation we've been with the same gp for years he was so good when mum had her lung cancer diagnoses and was there the day she died. Now I'm going through the same thing and my care has been amazing. I'm not moving far but I'm so worried I won't get the same care. It's just so important isn't it? I really hope you find another practice good luck .

[Gymbuddie in reply to Justbreathe67]

Yes it’s such a worry especially in our situation