Barriers to GP registration

New evidence on the systemic barriers that lead to unsuccessful registration attempts with General Practitioners in London

General Practice plays an integral role in supporting the health and wellbeing of Londoners. The NHS has clear guidance that lack of ID, proof of address and immigration status are not considered reasonable grounds to refuse a person’s registration with a General Practitioner (GP). However, in practice, system barriers and challenges mean that unsuccessful registration attempts persist.

This drives health inequalities, leaving some individuals unable to access GP support to maintain their health and manage chronic conditions. The impact of denied GP access was made especially clear during the pandemic, where undocumented migrants and others not registered with a GP risked not being called forward for vaccines or struggled to book their vaccine independently. 

The Mayor commissioned a new report: Scoping the systemic barriers which lead to unsuccessful general practitioner registration attempts amongst Londoners. The researchers worked alongside our NHS partners to undertake a scoping project, working with general practice and primary care staff to understand the systemic barriers that prevent successful GP registrations, as well as the practical challenges that general practice staff face and their lived concerns when trying to register individuals without documentation.

The report makes seven recommendations for the Mayor to work alongside regional NHS partners and to advocate on behalf of London’s general practices to national NHS teams, including a focus on:

• staff training
• developing a standardised registration process tool
• improving communication channels between NHS bodies.

The Mayor knows that registering with a GP isn’t always straightforward and that general practice and the NHS are working to get it right. The Mayor welcomes the report’s recommendations and is deeply committed to ensuring equity in access to public services, as stated in is 2021 manifesto pledge to ‘ensure undocumented migrants feel confident enough to come forward and access the Covid-19 vaccines on offer’.