Do you need proof of address to register with a GP?

How did this issue come about?

We had heard from a number of people that they had experienced significant problems when trying to register with a GP. We knew that Healthwatch Haringey had found similar problems in the neighbouring borough, so we decided to explore this issue.

What did people say?

With help from our team of volunteers, we carried out an on-street survey in the area of Enfield that had generated the most complaints and bordered Healthwatch Haringey's area of concern. We were shocked to find that 17% of people we spoke to did not have a GP, including some children.

The main reason for people not having registered with a GP was because they did not feel that they needed to, or because they faced problems doing so. The most common problem that prevented people from registering was difficulties with providing proof of address.

What happened as a result?

We produced a report and made a series of recommendations including:

• All GP practices in Enfield need to be aware of alternative ways of registering individuals who do not have proof of address
• More work needs to be done to encourage people to register with a GP practice before they become unwell
• Further work needs to be done to provide a more accurate and up-to-date assessment of the numbers of people who are not registered with a GP
• Information needs to be available, both nationally and locally, about how to register with a GP.

We sent our report to our Clinical Commissioning Group, Enfield Public Health and NHS England and secured local press coverage on the issue.

As a direct response to our report, our local Public Health department teamed up with us to produce a series of leaflets about registering with a GP. These are being delivered to all households in the five most deprived wards in the borough, as well as being produced in other prominent local languages, such as Turkish and Polish.