Our catchment area

NHS GP Practices have a set catchment area which they can register patients from. While some GP surgeries choose to participate in the voluntary NHS Out-of-Area Registration Scheme, University Health Service Southampton does not participate in this scheme.

Because we do not take part in this framework, we are unable to retain patients on our list who live outside our formal practice boundary. Our decision not to participate is based on several essential factors:

• Clinical Safety & Home Visits: Under the Out-of-Area scheme, practices are not required to provide home visits. However, we believe that if a patient becomes too unwell to travel to the surgery, they must have access to a local GP who can visit them. Because you now live outside our boundary, our clinical team cannot safely provide home visits.
• Access to Local Community Services: Many community health services—such as district nursing, local mental health teams, and community therapies—are strictly organized by geographic boundaries. Being registered with a GP outside your residential area can cause significant delays or administrative barriers if you ever need to access these vital local services.
• Practice Capacity: To ensure we provide high-quality, timely care to the community we are contracted to serve, we must focus our resources entirely on patients living within our immediate catchment area.

How to find a new GP

We recommend registering with a new practice as soon as possible to ensure continuity of your care and any ongoing prescriptions. You can easily find a GP surgery that covers your new address by using the "Find a GP" tool on the NHS website (www.nhs.uk).

Once you register with your new surgery, your medical records will automatically and securely be transferred over to them.