Two separate things happen when you move: your address changes on your NHS record, and your GP registration may or may not need to change with it. People assume these are the same job. They are not, and confusing them is why some households arrive at a new home still registered with a practice 40 miles away.
The deciding factor is your new GP practice catchment area. Move within it and you simply update your address and keep your doctor. Move outside it and the practice is entitled to remove you from its list, typically giving around 28 days’ notice to register somewhere new.
Quick answer: Update your address in the NHS App, which changes the Personal Demographics Service immediately and checks whether the new address falls in your GP’s catchment. If it does not, register with a new practice using online registration, which every GP practice is now required to offer. Your medical records transfer electronically, usually within 24 to 48 hours.
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What needs telling, and in what order
| Service | How to update | Automatic if you change GP? | What goes wrong if missed |
|---|---|---|---|
| NHS record address | NHS App, or the GP practice directly | Yes | Screening invitations go to the old address |
| GP registration | Online registration at the new practice | Not applicable | De-registration, then no GP at all |
| NHS dentist | Contact the practice yourself | No | Removed from the list after a period of non-attendance |
| Nominated pharmacy | Change in the NHS App or at the new pharmacy | No | Repeat prescriptions sent to a shop you have left |
| Hospital and clinic appointments | Contact each department | No | Appointment letters missed, referrals lost |
| NHS Pension, if applicable | Separate notification | No | Statements and correspondence go astray |
The single biggest misconception is that changing your GP updates everything else in the NHS. It does not. Dentists, hospital departments and your nominated pharmacy each hold their own records, and each needs telling separately.
Catchment areas and the 28-day rule
Every GP practice has a defined geographic boundary. Move outside it and the practice is entitled to remove you from its list, usually giving around 28 days to register elsewhere. Move inside it and you keep your doctor, but you still have to tell them you have moved.
This catches people who move a short distance and assume nothing changes. Practice boundaries can be surprisingly tight in urban areas, and a move of two miles can cross one. Check the boundary before you assume, because the practice will check it the moment you update your address.
The notice period is a courtesy window rather than a threat. It exists so nobody is left without a GP, and the practice will normally write to you explaining what to do. What you should not do is delay telling them in the hope of keeping a doctor you like, because being unregistered when you actually need care is a far worse outcome than changing practice.
There is a middle option worth knowing about. Out-of-area registration allows some practices to keep patients who have moved beyond the boundary, on the basis that the practice will not provide home visits. Whether it is offered is at the practice’s discretion and depends on your health needs. It suits a healthy adult who values continuity and is unlikely to need a visit; it is rarely appropriate for someone with mobility problems or a complex condition.
Ask the question directly rather than waiting to be told. If continuity matters to you, phone the practice, explain where you are moving, and ask whether out-of-area registration is possible.
Using the NHS App, and what it cannot do
The NHS App can change your address on the national record and will tell you if the new address falls outside your practice boundary. It cannot switch you between GP practices. That requires a fresh registration with the new practice.
The address change updates the Personal Demographics Service, the national record that sits behind GP systems, hospitals and screening programmes. That is the update that stops cervical screening invitations, bowel screening kits and hospital letters arriving at your old address.
Some practices prefer to verify address changes themselves rather than accept them through the app. Where that applies, the app will say so and direct you to contact the surgery. Phoning, using the practice’s own online form, or going in with proof of address all work, and the app usually reflects the change within a few days afterwards.
The same service lets you tell the NHS you have moved abroad, which matters if you are emigrating. It removes you from the GP list cleanly rather than leaving a dormant registration, and it is the correct step alongside the rest of the leaving admin.
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Registering with a new practice
Every GP practice in England is now required to offer online registration, so you no longer need to attend in person with paper forms. Your NHS number speeds it up but is not strictly required, and proof of your new address is usually requested.
- Find practices covering your postcode. The NHS App and the NHS website both list practices by area and show which are accepting new patients.
- Check what each offers. Appointment systems, online consultation, opening hours and whether they have a dispensing pharmacy vary considerably between practices in the same town.
- Register online. You will need your name, date of birth, previous address, previous practice, and proof of your new address.
- Your records follow automatically. Electronic GP records transfer between practices, usually within 24 to 48 hours of acceptance.
- You cannot be refused for being unwell. A practice can decline you for being outside its area or having a closed list, not because of your health.
- You do not need to deregister first. Registering with the new practice triggers removal from the old one.
If you take repeat medication, request a prescription before you move rather than after. Record transfer is quick but not instant, and the new practice will usually want to review long-term prescriptions before reissuing them. A fortnight of medication in hand removes any risk of a gap.
Dentists, pharmacies and hospital care
NHS dental registration works differently from GP registration and there is no catchment area, so you can stay with a dentist anywhere if you are willing to travel. The practical constraint is availability, and NHS dental places are scarce in much of the country.
Because NHS dental capacity is limited, do not give up an existing place until you have secured a new one. Practices commonly remove patients who have not attended for a period, so if you intend to keep your current dentist and travel, book the next check-up before you move.
The nominated pharmacy is the small change people forget most often. Repeat prescriptions issued electronically go to whichever pharmacy is nominated on your record, and if that is a shop near your old house, that is where the medication will be waiting. Change it in the NHS App or ask the new pharmacy to do it, which takes them a minute.
Hospital care is the one with the highest consequences and the least automation. If you are under a consultant, on a waiting list, or attending a clinic, contact each department directly. A referral does not travel with you, and moving into a different NHS trust area can mean the referral needs to be reissued by your new GP, which is worth raising at registration.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own health services with their own registration arrangements. Moving between UK nations means registering afresh rather than transferring, and the NHS App does not cover all of them in the same way.
When to do it relative to the move
We compared the health notifications against the wider address-change sequence, because unlike DVLA updates nothing here posts a document to the new address, which changes the optimal timing.
| Task | Best timing | Why | Consequence of delay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Check the new practice catchment | Before you exchange | Availability varies and lists close | No practice accepting patients locally |
| Request repeat medication | 2 weeks before | Record transfer is fast but not instant | A gap in essential medication |
| Update NHS record address | On or just after moving | Triggers the catchment check | Screening invitations misdirected |
| Register with a new GP | First week | Records transfer in 24 to 48 hours | Unregistered when you need care |
| Change nominated pharmacy | At registration | Electronic prescriptions follow the nomination | Medication waiting in another town |
| Notify hospital departments | First week | No automatic transfer exists | Missed appointments, removal from a list |
Two findings are worth acting on. First, the only genuinely urgent item is medication, and it needs doing before the move rather than after. Everything else tolerates a week; running out of a prescription does not.
Second, checking practice availability belongs at the property-search stage rather than the moving stage. In some areas every nearby practice has a closed list, and discovering that after completion is a genuine problem for a family with young children or anyone with an ongoing condition. It takes five minutes to check on the NHS website while you are looking at the area anyway.
Processes described reflect NHS England arrangements as published in 2026 and can change. Check with your practice or the NHS website for your own circumstances.
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When staying registered is the wrong choice
Keeping a distant GP through out-of-area registration is a poor idea if you have a long-term condition, reduced mobility, young children, or are pregnant. The trade-off is losing home visits and out-of-hours continuity, and those are precisely what those groups need.
Advice on this topic usually presents keeping your existing GP as the ideal outcome. For a lot of people it is not.
Out-of-area registration is offered on the explicit basis that the practice will not visit you at home. In practice it also means a long journey for anything that needs to be done in person, including blood tests, dressings, vaccinations and reviews. A twenty-mile round trip for a five-minute appointment stops being charming after the third one.
There is also a continuity argument that runs the other way. A local practice knows the local hospital, the local community services and the local referral routes. For anyone likely to need coordinated care, that local knowledge is worth more than a familiar name on the letterhead.
The honest position is that out-of-area works well for healthy adults moving a modest distance who value a doctor who knows them, and works badly for almost everyone else.
How EcoGreen Movers fits into the first week
Health admin is the part of a move worth doing in the first few days rather than the third week, and that is far easier when the house is not still full of boxes. EcoGreen Movers uses reusable crates that we collect afterwards, so unpacking is quicker and the hallway is clear by day two.
How quickly the first week clears depends on the service level. Premium includes the packing, which means labelled boxes and a faster unpack at the other end; Standard Plus covers furniture dismantled and rebuilt, so the beds are up on day one; Standard covers the loading and unloading. Boxes are sold on their own for anyone packing themselves, and storage keeps the volume down where a smaller property is receiving a larger household. Keep repeat prescriptions and medical paperwork with you rather than in the van.
We run residential moves across the UK, including London, Manchester and Edinburgh. The full notification sequence is in our moving house checklist, and the DVLA side is covered in our guide to the driving licence change of address. Get in touch for a quote.
Frequently asked questions
Can I keep my GP after moving?
Yes if your new address is inside the practice boundary, and you still need to tell them you have moved. If it is outside, the practice can remove you from its list with around 28 days’ notice, though some offer out-of-area registration without home visits at their discretion.
Do my medical records transfer automatically?
Yes. Electronic GP records transfer between practices once the new one accepts your registration, usually within 24 to 48 hours. You do not need to request them or deregister from your old practice first.
Can I change GP surgery in the NHS App?
The app can change your address on the national record and help you find practices accepting patients, but it cannot switch you between practices. That needs a fresh registration with the new surgery, which every practice must now offer online.
Does changing GP update my dentist too?
No. Dental practices hold separate records and there is no catchment restriction, so you can stay with a dentist anywhere. Given how scarce NHS dental places are, do not give up an existing one until a new place is confirmed.
What happens to my hospital appointments?
Nothing automatically. Contact each department directly, because referrals and waiting list places do not travel with you. Moving into a different trust area can mean a referral has to be reissued by your new GP, so raise it when you register.
In summary: address first, registration second
Update the address in the NHS App, which changes the national record and checks your practice boundary. If you have moved outside it, register online with a local practice and let the records transfer themselves.
Then handle the three the system will not do for you: the dentist, the nominated pharmacy, and any hospital department you are under. And request repeat medication before the move rather than after, because that is the only part of this with a real deadline.
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