Hackney GP surgeries under the microscope after watchdog found more than half demanded ID for registration – including one that told investigators it ‘does not accept asylum seekers’

Four Hackney practices told a health watchdog they had a “no ID, no registration” policy for new patients, with another saying it would refuse asylum seekers and homeless people – despite these breaching NHS policy.

In March 2021, Healthwatch Hackney contacted all 39 practices in Hackney to find out if they were asking for ID from new patients – which is against NHS guidelines.

Staff at 23 practices asked for ID and 27 practices said they would ask for an address.

Healthwatch chair Malcolm Alexander said: “One practice said ‘We don’t register asylum seekers’, which was quite extraordinary.”

It has since amended its information.

The head of primary care for the North East London clinical commissioning group, Richard Bull, contacted all the surgeries to remind them that a policy of asking for documents leads to a denial of healthcare.

He asked Healthwatch to repeat its investigation six months later.

NHS rules say patients must be registered unless the practice has reasonable grounds to decline them, even if they do not have documents to prove they live in the area.

Patients only need to show ID if they want online access to their medical records, because these are sensitive and confidential.

Some practices – including the one that said it was not registering asylum seekers or the homeless – reviewed their information.

Follow-up calls in October 2021 found that seven practices were still asking for ID and ten practices still wanted a patient’s address before registering them.

When Bull contacted all the practices that told Healthwatch they wanted patients’ ID or address details, they agreed it is not needed and said they trained staff regularly about registration rules.

They said they were “extremely disappointed that on this occasion Healthwatch Hackney had been told the wrong thing”.

The pandemic meant surgeries saw higher turnover of reception staff, sickness rates and use of temporary staff, and “it was harder to ensure that staff were saying the right thing all of the time”.

Surgeries said they would continue to remind staff about the correct registration requirements and induct new people.

Bull told the council’s Health in Hackney scrutiny committee last week that he wants the watchdog to do another follow-up.

He said: “It is incredibly frustrating that practices aren’t getting the message right all the time.”

He added it was “a very hard nut to crack”.

Ultimately, the NHS can issue breaches, he said, if patients are denied registration.

Cllr Deniz Oguzkanli said: “It is totally unacceptable for practices to be asking for ID.”

He added it was “disturbing” that people were refused registration if they could not provide an address.

Cllr Adams said he was recently asked to bring a passport to register at a surgery and was told his councillor ID was not suitable.

Dr Gopal Mehta from the Richmond Road surgery said he thought “this is down to training”, and said staff were changing “quite quickly” at practices due to the pandemic.

Healthwatch said that many residents do not have a passport or driving licence.

“The Windrush scandal has highlighted how requiring a passport can result in citizens being denied access to services,” the watchdog added.