St Austell Healthcare warns patients: check your registration

A text from a number you don’t recognise. A letter with an NHS crest on the envelope. An email that looks a little too official to be spam, but easy to swipe past all the same. If you haven’t needed a GP appointment or a repeat prescription in a while, the next message from St Austell Healthcare might be one worth actually opening.

Why NHS England is checking GP registers

NHS England is currently checking GP patient lists across the country to make sure records are up to date. The exercise is designed to identify patients who may no longer live in England, or who have moved outside their registered practice’s area. The stated aim is not to remove genuine patients from GP lists, but to keep the registers accurate.

Who’s likely to hear from them

If you haven’t visited the surgery or ordered a repeat prescription in the last 18 months, you may receive a text message, email or letter from NHS England or from St Austell Healthcare itself, asking you to confirm your contact details and confirm that you still live within the practice area.

What happens if you don’t reply

Ignoring the message is the one thing not to do. If you do not respond, NHS England may remove you from the practice’s patient list. This is part of a national NHS England process and is not something the practice itself controls. If you are removed by mistake, you may need to re-register with the practice before you can access routine GP services again.

What you actually need to do

If you still live within the practice area, there is no need to worry. Simply reply to the message as soon as possible and your registration will remain active. The practice is asking anyone who receives one of these messages to respond straight away, so their records stay correct and their registration stays live.