Homelessness in primary care: promote inclusive GP registration

Howard’s article mentioned five specialist homeless practices in England,1 but a report by King’s College London identified 123 specialist GP practices and found these dedicated centres were favourable at providing care for people experiencing homelessness.2There is, however, inequity in their distribution—in the North East London Integrated Care Board footprint, for example, there are specialist practices in three of seven boroughs. Many people who are experiencing homelessness, or from other inclusion health groups, cannot access specialist support locally.As highlighted in Pathway’s report, many people who are experiencing homelessness are also unable to access routine GP services as they are wrongly refused registration without proof of address or other identification.3 We cannot understand the needs of this population or literally “see” them if they are not registered.Often primary care team members are not aware of NHS England guidance that states that lack of proof of identity or address should not be a…
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