From paper forms to quick clicks: how online GP registration is reducing admin burden

Authors: Nigel Treweeke, IT Manager, and Laura Cripps, Receptionist, Bradford on Avon and Melksham Health

About the practice

At Bradford on Avon and Melksham Health, we are a large practice serving a growing population across three sites in Wiltshire. The team cares for over 19,000 patients and we’re made up of over 100 staff, including GPs, nurses, clinical pharmacists, mental health practitioners and social prescribers. As well as core primary care services, we offer additional services such as minor operations and a bespoke ‘leg‑club’ delivered for the community.

Why we signed up for the online service

We first heard about the NHS register with a GP surgery service through a local ICB IT forum. We were already experimenting with different digital registration solutions, and we could see other digital tools coming down the track, so it felt like a natural next step for us.

Since then, we’ve seen how online registration revolutionised how patients can register with practices. People can check nearby surgeries, see which are accepting new patients, and make informed choices without paperwork. Making it easier than ever for patients to register or change practice.  

What life looked like before and what changed

Previously, registrations meant deciphering handwritten forms, scanning, and rekeying in details, time-consuming steps where legibility and transcription errors crept in. With the online service, digital forms arrive to us structured and ready to check and our team copies the information from the digital form to our system, cutting out scanning and saving around ten minutes per paper form. Our team still reviews each record for quality and completeness, but the heavy lifting is done before it hits our system.

Today, the practice sees around 20 registrations a week online and in paper. We now have auto-registration turned on too, so for eligible patients changing to our practice, their information will automatically transfer to our records which we think will save us more time down the line.

What it means for our patients

For patients, especially those who are new to the area, students arriving for term time, people living on canal boats, or older residents, the ability to register remotely on their phone is a real win. Details like previous GP practice are captured up front, making it faster for staff to locate records, contact former surgeries when needed, and receive information through GP to GP transfers. With more activity moving onto the NHS App, patients can also manage appointments, prescriptions, test results and records in one place, building confidence and control over their care.

Practical benefits for staff

Our reception teams report smoother workflows and fewer workarounds needed. Typed forms reduce mis reads and structured fields help understand names and identity changes correctly, cutting down the risk of duplicate records. And because the online form lands directly in the system for verification, staff can focus on quality checks and patient queries rather than scanning and data entry.

Advice for other practices

Sign up! If you’re on the fence, talk to practices already using the service and learn how they’ve embedded it. Resistance to change is understandable, but the combination of time saved, better data quality, and easier patient access makes it a no brainer.  

Looking ahead

For us in Bradford on Avon and Melksham Health, digital registration is part of a wider journey. Our team is also embracing proxy access via the NHS App, which is a game changer for carers and families because it simplifies the management of care. Online GP registration lays the groundwork for more agile, inclusive and data driven primary care.