Home Visit Policy

Eligibility

Visits are reserved for patients who are genuinely housebound, such as those in nursing and residential homes and terminally ill patients. Home visits will not be authorised because of the following:

• A lack of transport
• The patient’s financial situation
• Childcare issues
• Poor weather conditions

The Travelling To and From Us section of the practice website provides some advice on transportation services for those patients who are not housebound but may have difficulty getting to us.

As patients’ needs may change overtime, eligibility for home visits will be reassessed on a regular basis.

Managing Home Visit Requests

Home visits are at the discretion of the duty or triage doctor who will triage all requests, determine if a visit is clinically necessary and prioritise them according to medical urgency. The practice may conduct a home visit if they believe the patient’s condition:

• Prevents them from travelling to the organisation, or
• The condition may deteriorate as a result of travelling to the organisation

The duty doctor will first consider whether alternative ways of assessing the patient are appropriate such as a telephone call. If a home visit is required, the duty doctor will allocate the home visit to an attending clinician who has the necessary skills, knowledge, competence and training for the presenting problem. 

Patient/Carer Obligations & Staff Safety

The practice expects that our staff are in a safe environment when conducting a visit and are not exposed to unnecessary risks. Should a staff member feel their safety is compromised, then they may terminate the visit and seek further advice as needed. We expect that patients and the carers take steps to ensure the consultation area is smoke free, there is a space to safely enable the clinician to undertake their role, and that animals not kept in an enclosure or tank are not in the same room for the duration of the visit.

Failed Visits

If there is no access to or contact with the patient when attempting to visit, the clinician will ensure that the correct address for the patient has been provided, give patients time to come to the door, and check carefully for signs of the patient or of any distress. If they suspect the person is at risk of serious harm, is critically unwell, or that a crime has been committed then they will call 999 immediately, request a police welfare check or ambulance as appropriate and inform the duty doctor.

If a patient is out at the time of a visit then they will usually be deemed able to attend an appointment at the practice and their eligibility for a home visit will be reconsidered.