New Patients

Temporary Patient Registrations

 

Emergency Treatment

  • If you are ill while away from home, you can see a local GP for up to 14 days, even if you are not registered there.

  • After 14 days, you must register as a temporary or permanent patient.

Temporary Patients

  • You can be a temporary patient for up to 3 months.

  • This means you can get care from the local GP and still stay registered with your usual GP at home.

  • After 3 months, you need to register again as temporary or become a permanent patient.

How to Register

  • To register as a temporary patient, contact the local GP practice you want to use.

  • GP practices do not have to accept temporary patients, but they must give emergency treatment if you need it.

  • You cannot register as a temporary patient at a GP practice in the same town or area where you are already registered.

Non-English Speakers

These fact sheets have been written to explain the role of UK health services, the National Health Service (NHS), to newly-arrived individuals seeking asylum. They cover issues such as the role of GPs, their function as gatekeepers to the health services, how to register and how to access emergency services.

Special care has been taken to ensure that information is given in clear language, and the content and style has been tested with user groups.

Open the leaflets in one of the following languages:

Page last reviewed: 10 December 2025
Page created: 29 January 2020