Case
Case
We partnered with NHS England to deliver a national digital GP registration service, transforming a previously fragmented and manual process into a streamlined, user-friendly platform adopted by surgeries across the country.
The challenge
Each year across England, more than 6.8 million people register at a local GP surgery, but until recently, the process was considered onerous and outdated. Patients were required to visit surgeries in person, present proof of address, and fill in long, arduous forms that could include as many as 150 questions.
The system placed a heavy burden on GP administrative staff, who would receive paper-based applications and then manually input the handwritten information into their IT systems. The registration forms themselves could be around 10 pages, with the details provided by patients often arranged in a different order to how they’d need to be entered, making the task even more time-consuming and error prone.
An internal study had found that, on average, patients were waiting up to two weeks for their registration to be complete.
GP practices in England
patients register with
a GP every year
NHS England GP
patients in total
The solution
When NHS England contracted Netcompany, the goal was clear: to create an online GP registration service that was easy-to-use and accessible to all, and reduced burden for GP administration staff. This would free up time to spend on more important tasks around the surgery and mean patients could be onboarded more quickly.
Digitising a health service that encompassed 6,200 different practices was a formidable challenge.
»Almost every GP surgery had its own slightly different registration form – often created in-house by administrative staff – leading to a patchwork of processes and paperwork across England,” says Bjarke Hovmand Sørensen, Project Lead at Netcompany. »This made the experience inconsistent for patients and burdensome for staff.«
The program delivered “Register with a GP Surgery Service”, which introduced an online form that captured patients’ registration information accurately, reducing errors and providing an email confirmation with the form attached as a PDF. It also automated the transfer of this information directly into GP IT systems. Users who weren’t native English-speakers could opt for a translated version. A pen-and-paper form was also available to patients not entirely comfortable with the digital format, but its information could still be entered into the new, joined-up system.
Manager
The results
The service launched in August 2022, four months earlier than scheduled, on a voluntary basis. The goal was to reach 2,000 GP admin teams by January 2024; that number was achieved by December 2023. By then, already half of new registrations were being processed digitally, and processing times had halved.
»We’re providing educational resources and training materials designed to help NHS administrative staff get to grips with the new digital registration service. To goal is to ensure they feel confident using the platform and can assist patients effectively,« says Sørensen.
By March 2024, more than one million patients had used the service. Its success prompted NHS England to mandate through the GP contract that all surgeries in England must offer the new registration channel from October 2024.
By April 2025, 6,150 GP surgeries had signed up to the service – representing more than 99% of the total surgeries in the country.
of English surgeries signed up to the service
people identified as at-risk of historic blood infection in two weeks
GPs signed up to the service as of April 2025
Use case
Between the 1970s and 1990s, over 30,000 people in the UK were infected with hepatitis C and HIV through contaminated NHS blood products. Around 3,000 of those have since died. The online GP registration programme is helping to identify undiagnosed victims of the infected blood scandal who are still at risk of developing life-threatening illnesses.
Since June 2025, those registering online with a GP have been asked whether they received a blood transfusion before 1996, with 2,199 people answering ‘yes’ in the first two weeks. Those who do so are offered a hepatitis C screening test. Looking ahead, around 400,000 people in the at-risk group will be asked the question each year, via the online form.
Between the 1970s and 1990s, over 30,000 people in the UK were infected with hepatitis C and HIV through contaminated NHS blood products. Around 3,000 of those have since died. The online GP registration programme is helping to identify undiagnosed victims of the infected blood scandal who are still at risk of developing life-threatening illnesses.
Since June 2025, those registering online with a GP have been asked whether they received a blood transfusion before 1996, with 2,199 people answering ‘yes’ in the first two weeks. Those who do so are offered a hepatitis C screening test. Looking ahead, around 400,000 people in the at-risk group will be asked the question each year, via the online form.
