Patient Registrations

Please notify PCSE a week before the change takes place so that we can arrange to turn the GP Links off. 

Please complete this form:

System Migration Request form

PCSE will confirm the highest transaction number as this will need to be passed on to your new Clinical System Supplier so that they can increase the Practice Transaction Numbers to prevent duplications occurring, which can occur with system changes.

Please do not attempt to send any registrations through the GP links until the GP links are turned back on (go live date).

If you have any queries regarding system migration please contact pcse.linkconfirmations@nhs.net

From 31 October 2024, GMS1 forms are no longer available to order on PCSE Online.

‘Register for a GP surgery’, a free online service for GP practices across England, has been introduced, simplifying patient registrations. All GP surgeries in England must offer the national service by 31 October 2024.

As part of this change, the GMS1 form has been phased out and replaced with a new paper registration form (PRF1) for those patients who are not able register using the new digital service. The PRF1 reflects the new online registration form that has been developed. Practices will now need to print out the PRF1 for the small number of patients who do not have digital access, with the majority of patients registering online.

If you have not already signed up to the new online registration service, more information and help is available on the NHS England website Register with a GP surgery service web page.

Typically, unmatched transactions occur when a transaction sent from NHS England systems via GP Links do not match with a patient who is registered on your clinical system.

PCSE are unaware of unmatched transactions until informed by practices.

You will need to contact PCSE for the patient information so that you can check if your clinical system needs to be updated with the information sent

To contact PCSE, email our general queries team at pcse.registrations-preston@nhs.net

When reporting an unmatched transaction(s), include:

• Your practice name and ODS code
• A list of the unmatched transaction numbers and dates

Sharing the above information enables PCSE to provide the information as quickly as possible.

Yes. If you do this PCSE can ensure the patient is deducted from their Scottish/Northern Irish GP and ensure their records are forwarded on

This needs to be discussed with the patient, you should explain that NHS systems require a patient to have a forename and surname. For example, you could ask if a duplication of his first name in both fields is ok. If not, then you will need to come to some agreement with the patient on what can be used for their surname (such as XX). Something needs to be in this field when registering the patient, or the registration will be rejected.

Yes Mx is an accepted title. 

Built into clinical systems are address matching capabilities intended to improve the formatting of addresses. When registering or amending the address of an existing patient you should use these to check the validity and accuracy of addresses. 

If a patient is new to England or Wales from Scotland or NI, they are previously registered with the NHS, but they will be allocated a new number. 

If NBO trace their Scottish NHS number, you will receive a number amendment down the link.

For patients registering in England for the first time having previously been registered in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales, please select the registration type on your clinical system that you would if the patient was registering from another area of England and include their previous address. This will ensure that PCSE have the necessary information to request the medical record from the patient’s previous practice.

• PCSE will then process the registration and send confirmation to the practice via the clinical system
• The National Back Office will initiate the deduction of the patient at the previous practice which triggers the request for them to release the medical record for transfer on to the new practice
• The previous GP practice releases the record to the relevant Health Board who send the patient record to PCSE via courier
• PCSE locates the new practice details, and sends the patient record to the new practice via CitySprint, with their usual records delivery

Please note:

• GP2GP will not work for patients transferring from GP practices in NI and Scotland
• PCSE is reliant on the timely release of the patient record from the old practice in order to send it on to the new practice
• When a patient moves to Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland/Isle of Man tracking labels are automatically issued. If they do not arrive within 3-4 weeks from the patients deduction, new labels can be requested.
• If the records are required urgently, please raise a query via the Contact Us page on the PCSE website, selecting Medical Record Movement enquiries & then "Urgent Medical Records enquiry" providing known details for the patient.

All patients that are moving to another home nation such as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland require the electronic health record printing to send with the Lloyd George envelope. This can be identified by the following labels.

The patient should be registered in the usual way on your clinical system.

If a sensitive marker needs to be put on the patients PDS record to protect their geographical location on national NHS systems including the Spine, please visit https://digital.nhs.uk/services/personal-demographics-service/restricting-access-to-a-patients-demo….

On this page are the forms that need to be completed by the patient and the GP. Please ensure what restricting access means for the patient and your practice. Once the form is completed it should be sent to the National Back Office. Further information can be found on the above link. 

PCSE are required to match patient addresses to a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) to ensure their integrity, given the importance of the data to patient communications from the NHS. UPRNs are only assigned to new properties periodically and therefore don't always appear in the PCSE accessible reference data before people begin registering as a resident.

If an address is amended by PCSE and this is not correct, or if an address is queried by PCSE during processing of GP links messages, please resubmit the address information with a free text message stating 'Address Correct - New Build Property.'

Patients within the adult male, adult female and children and young people’s secure estate have the opportunity to register with healthcare at their place of detention. This means a GP2GP transfer can take place, electronically transferring the patient’s community GP record into the clinical system in place across the secure estate, and then back out to the community when the patient registers with a GP on release.

Please visit the Secure Estates webpage with more information.

Private patients without an NHS number 

If you are registering a patient who has previously been private, they may not have an NHS number. The new style of NHS number only came into fruition in 1995, therefore if a patient was born prior to this and not registered with an NHS GP at the time, they will have not been issued one.

The PCSE Registration teams are required to search for possible matches to the details provided. By providing a previous address for a patient, possible matches can be found quicker. If there is a possible match, the team will reject back to the GP practice for them to review, update and return the registration with the required information. If the information isn't clear or if there is not the information provided, it means further delay or rejection. Please also note in the GP message field ‘Private patient not previously registered with the NHS'. This will limit rejections if no trace of the patient is found.

Please check the unacknowledged file within your GP practice clinical system weekly. For any patients that have been unacknowledged for 10 days or more please contact the PCSE general registration queries team (pcse.registrations-preston@nhs.net) with;

• The patient's name
• Date of birth
• NHS number if known
• Your practice code

Please note that over 98% of registrations are processed within 3 working days but data quality issues mean it can take up to 10 days to process a registration.

If a registration has not been acknowledged within 10 days, there may be an issue with the receipt of the registration through GP links, or transmission of the acceptance message to your clinical system that needs to be investigated and addressed.

You should never use the high security/security controlled procedures functionality on your clinical system to approve a registration in your unacknowledged file unless advised to do so by PCSE.

When can a patient register at a practice as a temporary patient?

For the first 24 hours a patient can be treated as immediate and necessary, and a temporary Registration (GMS3) can be in place for up to 3 months. A GMS3 form will need to be completed by the patient.

My practice needs an NHS number for a temporary patient.

PCSE registrations only deal with permanent registrations sent through the GP links.  Registrations for temporary patients should not be sent via the GP links.

If the practice requires guidance registering a temporary patient on their clinical system, they will need to seek guidance from their system supplier.

Due to patient confidentiality PCSE are unable to confirm the NHS number for a temporary patient, this information can only be given to the registered GP practice.

A GP at our practice wants to refer a temporary patient and they need the patient's NHS number.

Temporary patients cannot be referred through practice systems.  Should a temporary patient require referring, the GP needs to contact the Service Provider directly.

Alternatively, if the practice are happy to do so, they can register the patient as permanent by submitting the patient’s registration via the GP links.

Should we register a patient as temporary and for how long?

If the practice are unsure whether or not they should register a patient as temporary please contact NHSE local area team for guidance.

Where can I get information about GMS3 forms?

Please see the Medical Records section for information regarding the GMS3 forms.

The patient should be registered in the usual way on your clinical system. PCSE are not able to accept address such as NFA or ‘No Fixed Abode’. You should discuss with the patient whether there are any C/O (Care of) addresses that can be used. If agreeable between you and the patient the practices address can be used to register the patient. 

Practices should only use High Security / Security Controlled Procedures as a corrective measure when advised to do so by PCSE.

Any actions carried out under High Security / Security Controlled Procedures only update the clinical system and do not result in GP Links transactions sent to national NHS systems e.g. PDS.

These actions can therefore cause mis-alignment between the patients information on your GP practice clinical system and national NHS systems such as PDS. This can negatively impact the clinical care for patients and GP practices financially.  

Please contact us to assist you with this.

PCSE will write to patients upon their first registration against an NHS number. Patients may also receive confirmation of their registration with a GP practice directly from NHS England if the registration has been completed online using the Register with a GP surgery service.

We are aware that practices may wish to register Afghan refugees, who may not able to provide the usual information required to register them. 

Please call the Customer Support Centre on 0333 014 2884 and press 6 for Patient Registrations queries. You will need to provide the customer service agent with the following information as a minimum:

• Title
• Forename
• Surname
• Address
• Date of Birth *
• Gender 

* If date of birth is not known, the practice should use 1 January and the year they think the patient was born.

These cases will be handled as high priority. 

If you do not have this information, we are unable to raise a case. In this circumstance, practices should contact their Area Team or Commissioner.

New registrants include babies, patients recently arrived from overseas and any other patients who have an NHS number allocated for the first time at the point of registration.

As part of NHS England's push to digitise medical records the issuing of new medical record envelopes (Lloyd Georges) for patients registering with the NHS for the first time has now been ceased.

Any registrations processed after the 1st January 2021 for these groups will not be automatically issued with a physical medical record as previously occurred. Practices that are unable to scan notes onto an electronic record are still be able to order a Lloyd George for transferring records.   

PCSE will then send a new registration letter directly to the patient’s home address.

Replacement registration letters or medical cards are not provided. If a patient needs their NHS number, they can get this from their current GP.

We wanted to confirm that people coming to the UK from Ukraine will already have an NHS number as these flow from the visa process.

Please ensure you search for an existing NHS number e.g. at the point of GP registration, taking care when translating names from Cyrillic to English text.

There may be some exceptions, due the circumstances of an individual’s arrival in the UK, where a new NHS number needs to be requested.

If the individual and/or their family are residing in a hotel, hostel or other type of accommodation with multiple rooms, please put the room number when registering.