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Questions patients are asked in the online form

The questions asked in the online registration form are all you need to successfully progress a patient registration. 

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The Register with a GP surgery service includes a set of mandated questions needed for patient registration with an NHS GP surgery. 

Patients are also asked a series of questions based on their personal circumstances. Where possible the service uses information that the NHS already knows about the patient to reduce the number of questions they have to answer.

The questions we ask during the online registration process are all that are needed to successfully progress a patient registration.

It is not possible for a patient to leave mandatory fields unanswered as the service uses data validation. This means that even if a patient's registration contains unanswered questions you should still have all the necessary information you need to progress their registration.  

How we choose which questions to include in the service

Questions are included based on: 

  • NHS England primary care registration policy 
  • research with GPs and professionals working in GP surgeries  
  • research with patients, particularly those from excluded and marginalised communities 

We may add, change or remove questions in the future to improve the service.

Categories of questions

Each patient's health and personal circumstances are unique. The questions they face while filling out the form will change according to their situation.

Here are the 4 categories of questions patients might come across:

1. Mandatory questions - these are essential questions asked to all patients.  

2. Optional health questions - all patients are asked these questions, but they are optional to answer.  

3. Extra questions - some patients may be asked extra questions based on their specific situation.  

4. Customised questions - questions tailored to individual patient needs and circumstances.

Questions asked

Mandatory questions

1. Who is registering with a GP? 

2. What is your name? (title, middle name, last name, previous last name) 

3. Date of birth 

4. Do you know your NHS number? 

5. What is your NHS number (if known)? 

6. Are you registering with a UK GP for the first time? 

7. Do you have a current UK address? 

8. What are your contact details? (home phone, mobile, email, post) 

9. What is your sex as recorded on your NHS record? (female, intersex, male, not specified or known) 

10. Where were you born? 

11. What is your ethnic group? 

12. What is your ethnic background? 

13. Do you need a language interpreter? (requires GP practice to turn this question on) 

14. Which language do you need an interpreter for? (includes British Sign Language) 

15. Would you like to choose or change a pharmacy for your prescriptions? (requires GP practice to turn this question on) 

16. Have you ever been a member of the UK Armed Forces or are a family member registered with the Defence Medical Services? 

17. Do you have an emergency contact? 

18. What are the details of your emergency contact? 

19. Are you returning from overseas? 

Optional health questions

20. Do you have any existing or pre-existing medical conditions? 

21. Do you have any allergies? 

22. Do you have any mental health conditions? 

23. Do you have any disabilities? 

24. Do you have a carer? 

25. Are you a carer? 

26. Do you or your carer need to be communicated with in an accessible form? 

27. Do you or your carer need any reasonable adjustments to make your visit to the GP surgery accessible? 

28. Do you currently take any prescription medication? 

29. Can you provide more details about your prescription medication? 

30. Are any of these repeat prescriptions? 

31. What is your height? 

32. What is your weight? 

33. How often do you drink alcohol or have a drink containing alcohol? 

34. How many units of alcohol do you drink on a typical day when you are drinking? 

35. How often have you had six or more units of alcohol on a single occasion in the last year? 

36. Have you ever smoked? 

37. Did you receive a blood transfusion before 1996?

38. Do you want important information from your GP record to be available to other health and care professionals?

Extra questions

Some patients are asked additional questions if they are: 

  • transferring from another GP surgery in England 
  • completing the form on behalf of someone else 
  • coming or returning from overseas

Patients transferring from another GP surgery in England

39. Enter details of where you were born 

40. What is the name of the GP surgery you want to leave? 

41. What was your previous UK address?

UK citizens returning from living abroad 

42. Are you returning from overseas? 

43. What was the date you left the UK? 

44. What was the date you returned to the UK? 

Patients who are moving to the UK and registering for the first time 

45. When did you enter the UK? 

46. Have you moved to the UK from EU, EEA or Switzerland? 

47. Do you have any of these documents? (EHIC, S1) 

48. European health insurance card details 

If the person is completing the form on behalf of someone else

49. What is your relationship to the person being registered? (parent or guardian, carer, other) 

50. What type of carer are you? (young carer, paid as a job, unpaid but may get benefits, foster carer, none of the above) 

51. What are your details? (name, relationship, contact number) 

Children and young people 

If the patient is less than 12 months old: 

52. Where was the child born? 

53. Enter the postcode where the mother of the child was living when their baby was born

If the patient is less than 18 years old:

54. Does the child go to any of the following for their education? 

55. Is anyone else involved in the child's care? 

56. Has the child had all their routine vaccinations? 

57. Did the child get all their routine vaccinations in the UK?

Choose a pharmacy if offered by practice 

58. Do you live more than 1 mile from your nearest pharmacy? 

59. Would you have serious difficulty getting to your nearest pharmacy? 

Customised questions

You can choose to ask the following questions: 

  • Do you need a language interpreter? (asked after question number 12) 
  • Would you like to choose or change a pharmacy for your prescriptions? (asked after question number 14) 
  • Do you want to nominate a pharmacy? 
  • Do you want to get your prescription items direct from [name of surgery]? - this would only be asked by dispensing surgeries

Learn more about adding customised questions

Contacting patients for more information

If your practice has additional questions you should follow your surgery's process for gathering any additional patient information. 

Alternatively, if you give us the web address we can direct patients to your own additional questions. To do this sign into your NHS Profile Manager account and turn on the feature that allows us to direct patients to your online form.
 

Last edited: 14 April 2025 3:41 pm