GP registration in Hackney, and the right to access health care

Healthwatch Hackney staff and volunteers made calls to all 39 GP surgeries in Hackney over a two-week period in March 2021. They said they were calling from Healthwatch Hackney and asked staff to explain the process for registering with the practice.

When calling practices to enquire about registration there were a small number of practices that were difficult to reach. Five calls took over seven minutes to be answered, one call taking 27 minutes to be answered, and two others 24 minutes. Multiple calls were needed to get connected to six practices.

Twenty-three of the Hackney GP practices contacted asked for proof of identity. Twenty-seven practices asked for proof of address.

Many practices offered online registration. However, this was also often coupled with a requirement to bring documents to the surgery to complete the process.

Healthwatch Hackney made five recommendations in this report.