Why are you removing me from your patient list?

Historically, our practice has taken a lenient approach to registering patients, and allowing patient to remain once they have moved out of the area. Unfortunately, there is an increasing demand for our services due to the vastly growing number of housing developments in the surrounding areas.

This is putting an incredible strain on practice resources and we therefore have to make some tough decisions on how we can manage the increased workload. One area we have to consider is the distance we have to travel for home visits.

However, we cannot simply remove the patients who are most likely to request visits, as this would be discriminatory (and potentially illegal). Therefore, we have to treat all patients equally and simply look at where they live and how this relates to our practice boundary.

Is this to do with my age?

Absolutely not. We would be flouting some very serious laws if this was the case. The patients we are removing from our list are from a wide range of age groups and also include children and young families.

Can I remain registered and opt-out of home visits?

Under our GMS contract, any patient registered with our practice has to have the full list of services available to them. That is to say, any patient registered with the practice has to be able to request a home visit, which must be done if the patient meets certain criteria.

Are there any exceptions?

The doctors have looked at the list of patients being removed and if any patients are currently being treated for certain conditions (e.g. aggressive cancers), then exceptions have been made for those patients.

We have also made temporary exemptions for patients who are having operations. However, these patients will still be removed once the procedures have been completed.