§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What conditions have to be met for a non-British subject to register with a National Health Service general practitioner; whether non-British subjects who do register with a National Health Service general practitioner are issued with a National 141WA Health Service number; and whether the National Health Service central register is necessarily aware that the number has been issued to a non-British subject. [HL2073]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathIf a non-British subject presents for registration at a general practitioner the following occurs. If they state they are to be in the country for less than three months, the GP completes a temporary services (GMS3) form. If they state they are to be resident in the country for over three months, the patient is registered with the GP using the GMS1 form. These forms are submitted by the GP to the local health authority.
Only patients that generate a GMS1 form are issued with an NHS number by the NHS Central Register. The NHSCR always checks to see if the patient has already been previously issued with an NHS number.
The health authority registers the patient as an immigrant, but the first acceptance record submitted to NHSCR contains only a place of birth field and a comments field (which may or may not contain the country of origin). Hence the NHSCR is not necessarily aware that the number has been issued to a non-British subject.