Patients Registered at a GP Practice January 2021

The trend in the number of patients registered at a GP practice was similar in both 2018 and 2019 whereby each month there was an increase in the number of patients registered compared to the previous month. The highest increase in the number of registered patients occurred between September and October in both 2018 and 2019. However, there are notable differences in the trend for 2020. For the first time in the history of the patients registered at a GP publication (first published April 2013), there was a decrease in the number of patients registered at a GP practice. This decrease first occurred between April and May 2020 (- 50,406) however there were also decreases between May and June 2020 (-10,046), and between August and September 2020 (-5779).

GP practice list sizes change due to births, deaths, immigration, emigration and administration of GP list sizes to remove duplicate patients. The decrease in registered patients seen these periods is likely due to an increase in deaths, a decrease in immigration, and potentially increased list cleansing activities brought about by additional activities to contact vulnerable patients.

Please note that prior to April 2017 the patients registered at a GP practice publication was published on a quarterly basis, therefore the data in this spotlight report only covers the period from January 2018 to December 2020 to allow direct monthly comparisons.