Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has issued guidance on the maximum distance that a patient should travel to see their registered GP.

As part of the arrangements for the provision of primary medical services, general practices (GPs) are required to agree an area within which they will accept patients onto their list. This ensures there is a sufficient distribution of GPs for all patients in England and provides for an area in which practices feel they are able to provide home visits, should they be needed.

Changes to the GP Contract arrangements in 2014/15 brought in a measure allowing GPs to register patients from outside their catchment areas without a duty to provide home visits for such patients.

If the practice feels it is not clinically appropriate or practical for the patient to be registered so far away from home, it can still refuse registration, but should explain the reason for doing so.