Home Visit Policy - 2025

When a Home Visit Can Be Requested?

If you are too unwell to attend the surgery due to a serious medical condition, you may request a home visit** by contacting reception.

A GP will usually call you first to assess your situation and decide whether a visit is clinically necessary.

Home visits are considered only when:
• you are medically unfit to travel, or
• you are housebound due to illness or disability.

Please be aware that home visits cannot be offered for social or transport reasons.

Why Home Visits Are Limited?

A home visit takes significantly longer than a surgery appointment. A GP may be able to see 4–5 patients in the surgery in the time required for a single visit. To ensure we can offer appointments to as many patients as possible, we must prioritise visits for those who genuinely cannot attend the practice.

Modern NHS Care

GP care today often requires equipment, tests and facilities that are only available at the surgery. For this reason, a surgery appointment usually provides a higher standard of care than a home visit and will be recommended whenever possible.

What Happens When You Request a Visit?

When you call, you will be asked for information to help assess the urgency and the most appropriate response. After morning surgery, a GP will usually telephone you to discuss:
• whether a home visit is needed
• whether another healthcare professional (e.g., district nurse) is more appropriate
• whether you should attend the surgery
• whether hospital care may be required

You may be asked questions such as:
• how long symptoms have been present
• treatments already tried
• the location of your symptoms

Sometimes advice can be given over the telephone without the need for a visit.

If a Visit Is Arranged

Please make sure you are at home and able to allow the GP access. If you may have difficulty answering the door, please make arrangements in advance so the GP can enter safely.

When to Request

Because most visits take place between surgeries, we ask that requests are made as early in the morning as possible, ideally before 10:30am. Requests made later may result in delays or a visit taking place much later in the day.

 ** Patients MUST live within a 3 mile radius of the surgery. Those registered on the ‘out of area’ scheme are not eligible for a home visit unless they are a Trafford Waters Resident.