§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to issue patients with NHS numbers.
§ Mr. SackvilleEvery United Kingdom resident is issued with a national health service number. This happens either when the birth of a child is registered or when someone who comes to live here seeks to register with a general practitioner.
From July 1995 the NHS number will be issued in a new format suited to its wider use to identify patients within the NHS. This replacement number will continue to appear on the medical card patients receive when they register with a GP.