As part of the NHS commitment to providing more personalised care, from June 2015 all practices are required to provide all their Patients with a named GP who will have overall responsibility for the care and support that our surgery provides.  

•  This will not impact your experience at the practice, the provision of appointments, your treatment, or which GP you can see
•  You may wonder why your allocated GP is not necessarily the one you see most regularly.  Please be assured that you can still access all of our medical team in exactly the same way as before
•  Having a named GP does not guarantee you will always be seen by that GP
•  Please note that the GP responsible for your care may be subject to change and reallocation in the future

You do not need to take any further action, but if you have any questions or wish to know your named GP, please speak to a member of the reception team.

What does ‘accountable’ mean?

This is largely a role of oversight, with the requirements being introduced to reassure patients that they have one GP within the practice who is responsible for ensuring that this work is carried out on their behalf.   

What are the named GP’s responsibilities to 75s and over?

This is unchanged from 2014-2015; for patients aged 75 and over the named accountable GP is responsible for:  

•  working with relevant associated health and social care professionals to deliver a multi-disciplinary care package that meets the needs of the patient
•  ensuring that these patients have access to a health check as set out in section 7.9 of the GMS Contract Regulations.

Does the requirement mean 24-hour responsibility for patients? No. The named GP will not:  

•  take on vicarious responsibility for the work of other doctors or health professional
•  take on 24-hour responsibility for the patient, or have to change their working hours. The requirement does not imply personal availability for GPs throughout the working week
•  be the only GP or clinician who will provide care to that patient

Can patients choose their own named GP

In the first instance, patients should simply be allocated a named GP. However, if a patient requests a particular GP, reasonable efforts should be made to accommodate their preference, recognising that there are occasions when the practice may not feel the patient’s preference is suitable. 

Do patients have to see the named GP when they book an appointment with the practice?

No. Patients can and should feel free to choose to see any GP or nurse in the practice in line with current arrangements. However, some practices may see this change as a way to encourage and promote a greater degree of continuity of care for patients.