Are patients allowed to nominate a private GP as their registered GP?

The ‘registered GP’ concept (i.e., the idea that you have a single GP or GP practice responsible for your care) is an NHS concept, and not something that directly transfers into the private sector.

In the NHS, a patient’s registered GP practice is contractually responsible for a number of functions, such as:

NHS systems, such as PDS, allow any NHS provider to identify a patient’s registered practice, and then liaise with them for the patient’s care. Conversely, within the private sector, there is no central database of a patient’s ‘registered GP’.

‍

What is the implication of this?

Ultimately, the current status is that all eligible patients should maintain an NHS GP registration. The importance of this was highlighted by the COVID vaccine program, where no vaccines were made available to private providers.

The NHS GP is considered the central point of contact for NHS secondary and community care providers; this means they’ll also receive any communication generated from NHS services such as ED or Ambulance attendances. They also will typically hold responsibility for delivering services such as vaccinations.

For private GPs, this ultimately means that you should typically work on the basis that any patient you see privately is a ‘temporary’ patient – and any notes from interactions should be directed back to the NHS GP to maintain a central record.  

By doing this, the patient will be able to access a joined up, cross-organisation record via the NHS app (which shows the patient's registered GP record) and if a patient is seen in NHS secondary care (e.g., A&E), the secondary care providers will have access to a comprehensive and updated view of the patient’s record.

‍

Are there any exceptions?

Yes, any patient not eligible for NHS care should be treated differently – although this likely means they are a visitor to the UK anyway.

You may also choose to have a category of your own patients who you consider to be ‘registered’ with you. However, in this sense being ‘registered’ won’t have the same meaning as being registered with a GP in the NHS – as you won’t necessarily be able to deliver all their care, and you won’t act as the guardian of their main record (that responsibility will still sit with their NHS GP).