How to remove patients

You may remove patients from a GP practice for various reasons in accordance with the regulations.

We provide services to practices to update the Community Health Index (CHI) with the reasons for removal.

Typical reasons, as per The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2004, are outlined below.

At the request of the contractor (GP practice)

The practice must have reasonable grounds for removal and should warn and inform the patient. Once notified, we remove the patient from the practice list on CHI, which sends an electronic message to the practice clinical system.

Confirmation is then sent to the patient, and removal takes place on the eighth day following receipt of the request.

If the patient has been violent

The practice must involve the police or procurator fiscal in cases of violence. We'll remove the patient immediately from the practice on the CHI, and write to the patient.

Depending on local board arrangements, patients may be automatically assigned, or referred to another GP practice.

If the patient registers elsewhere

If a patient registers elsewhere, that registration will automatically remove the patient from the previous GP practice and an electronic message will be sent.

At this point, the CHI has been updated and the registration transferred to the new GP practice. A patient can only register with one practice at a time.

If they move out of the GP practice’s area but are staying within Scotland

This will be a geographical removal. Please see the below for the process:

• To submit a Geographical removal please submit the new address from the patient and change the address via amendments in GP links.
• The GP note must include a comment stating the patient is either Out of Area (OOA) or Geographical removal. The patient will not be removed geographically unless this has been added.
• Practitioner services will change the address and request a Geographical removal to be processed 30 days from the date we process the amendment.
• A letter will be sent via royal mail to the patient informing them of a geographical removal.
• A notification will be sent to the practice to confirm the address has changed; you must accept these changes.
• It is essential you do not deduct the patient; you will receive a deduction once the 30 days has been reached.
• You must submit an amendment per family member moving from the same address to the same address.
• Please use Postcode Finder - Find an address | Royal Mail Group Ltd to ensure the addresses are correct.

If the patient is no longer known to be at the address held

If the patient is no longer known to be at their address, we'll inform the GP practice that the patient will be removed six months after the date if there is no change or update to the patient record.

We don't inform patients as their whereabouts are unknown.

If they are absent from the UK, join the armed forces or die

In these cases the patient will be removed from the GP practice list on CHI, which will send an electronic message to the GP practice clinical system.

If the patient has moved for longer than three months

If a patient moves ‘temporarily’ for longer than three months, they can be removed by informing us. The patient will be removed from the practice list on CHI, which will send an electronic message to the GP practice clinical system.

We'll also write to the new address, if accurate, to inform the patient.

If they are pupils, staff or residents of a school

If a patient does not appear on the list of pupils, staff or residents at a school (provided by the school), we'll remove the patient from the GP practice list on CHI.

As above, this sends an electronic message to the practice clinical system.

Where the removal is requested or confirmed by your GP practice, you should inform us to action the removal and the reasons. This can be done by letter or system message. Do not remove the patient from your GP practice clinical system, as this doesn't currently transfer to our team to update CHI.

At the request of the patient

Patients occasionally request that they be removed from their practice and they can do this. The patient should provide a written or email request to the practice which should be forwarded to Practitioner Services. The patient will be removed from the practice list on the CHI 14 days later, which sends an electronic message to the practice clinical system. Practitioner Services will write to the patient.

Get in touch with our team

The Practitioner Services team can provide advice and support. Find your relevant contact and get in touch.