Population mobility: characteristics of people registering with general practices

SummaryObjectives m of this study was to examine the characteristics of patients joining general practitionersʹ (GP) lists, and the time taken to register after a move of residence. design onnaire study. s in six London general practices administered the questionnaire to 642 newly registering adults. s 40% of participants took longer than 6 months to re-register with a GP after a change of address. About one in eight participants (13%) took longer than 1 year and one in 14 (7%) took longer than 3 years to register. The overall median time to register after a move was 4 months. The amount of time taken to register appeared to be influenced by a number of factors, including gender, age and geographical location. sions tion mobility and the time taken to register with a new GP is likely to have a major impact on access to health care and the effectiveness of local preventative health programmes. Primary care trusts need to encourage their local residents to register with a GP soon after a change of address, and develop initiatives to encourage participation in preventative health programmes amongst mobile groups. Additional measures to strengthen primary care provision, such as walk-in centres, may be required in areas with the highest levels of population turnover.