1. Registration
There are safeguarding aspects to registering children without a parent, but it is not a reason for refusal.
Ideally, an adult with parental responsibility should normally be registered at the practice with the child where the ID of the adult can be matched to the child’s birth certificate details.
However, one of the exemptions to this is where both parents serve in the armed forces and are registered with an armed forces GP.
Further information is available in the Primary Medical Services Policy and Guidance Manual Part B Chapter 4.12 – Registering Children.
In all cases (adult and children), a GP practice may only refuse to register individuals where it has reasonable grounds for doing so. Reasonable grounds may include, in the case of an application for permanent registration, that the patient does not live, or does not intend to live in, the contractor’s practice area or the outer boundary area. A GP surgery can also refuse to register a new patient because their practice is not taking on any new patients.
The ICB can also assign a new patient to a practice whose list is open.
2. The NHS APP
The NHS APP is open to those who are:
▪ Aged 13 or over.
▪ Registered with an NHS GP surgery in England or the Isle of Man.
As Armed Forces Serving personnel are registered at a surgery provided by Defence Medical Service (DMS) they cannot currently use the NHS APP.
Parents, family members or carers can manage services for their children by switching their profile. This is also referred to as having a linked profile or having proxy access. This is set up by the GP Surgery where the parent and child are registered and therefore is not currently available to Serving Personnel as there are technical limitations regarding the connectivity / interaction with DMICP / MedIS.
We have raised this with the national Digital Team who are aware of the issue and continue to work with DMICP/Med IS.
Debra Elliott
Director of Transformation & Commissioning, Armed Forces Health NHS England
