Register with us as a New Patient

 

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Live within our boundary area?

We welcome new patients to the surgery who reside within the catchment area. You can check if you are within our catchment area by entering your postcode below.

Please note that the map is for visual purposes only. To view if you are in our catchment area, please use the postcode finder.

 
 

How to register

The Practice welcomes new patients. When you register with us, we will request details of your past medical problems so as to avoid delay while we wait for your records to reach us. Hand written records can take anything up to three months to arrive at the practice. Even in these days of coded computerised medical records, there is as yet no way of transferring the electronic record from practice to practice, which is particularly irksome. To register at the Practice as a new patient you will need to complete secure online form.

Paper forms still available from reception, but bare in mind this may take longer, as they have to be manually registered by a member of staff

 

Identification

Whilst not mandatory, the NHS guidelines for new patient registrations have been put into place in order to ensure that patient registration fraud within the NHS is minimised. When you register with the Westbank Practice you may be asked to provide a combination of the following documents

  • Birth Certificate
  • Marriage Certificate
  • Medical Card
  • Driving Licence
  • Passport
  • Local authority rent card
  • Paid utility bills
  • Bank/Building Society cards/statements
  • National Insurance number card
  • Payslip
  • Letter from Benefits Agency/benefit book/signing on card
  • Papers from the Home Office
  • P45

It is preferable that one item of photo ID is provided, along with one document containing your address. 

 

Register before you need us

Many new patients only register with us when they have a medical problem. We strongly recommend that you register when you move into the Practice area. This advice applies particularly to students who often forget to register with a doctor when they arrive at college. Other fit young professionals are rather proud of the fact that they still are registered with the family doctor where their parents live and regard it as a weakness to even consider that they might one day require an urgent appointment! While we would hope not turn any unregistered patient away, who requested help, it is much more sensible to plan.

 

New Patients

At the time of registration, patients are encouraged to see the practice nurse before consulting the doctor as much of the information regarding past medical problems can be sorted out then. If you are attending for a new patient check with the practice nurse, you may find it more convenient to bring a fresh urine sample with you rather than produce one at the time. The receptionist will hopefully give you a suitable container for this without drawing attention of the fact to the full waiting room of patients.