GP practices may find themselves with a violent or aggressive patient. In such cases, the patient can be removed from the practice list and the Special Allocation Scheme (SAS) can continue to provide GP services in a secure environment.

The incident must have been reported to the police for the immediate removal to be processed. Secondary or local commissioner approval is not necessary.

Requests to remove patients (either immediate or within 8 days) must go to Primary Care Support England (PCSE).

In 2018, NHS England directed that all immediate removals will be processed by PCSE within 24 hours of receipt of notification from the GP practice.

The updated policy includes a provision for the Special Allocation Scheme (SAS) provider to determine whether the removal request is appropriate. Guidance is available on the PCSE website. 

The responsibility for determining whether a patient meets the criteria for immediate removal is with the reporting practice. PCSE will only confirm that the incident has been reported to the police. 

All 8-day or immediate removal requests must be logged through PCSE online forms.

Contact details

PCSE customer support centre
t: 033 3014 2884

Medicus Select Care (provides primary care services for patients registered with the SAS scheme in NCL)
e: mhpselectcare@nhs.net
t: 020 3813 0611