Single hen

[ali-s]

Son Jack has an inverview next week for the Royal Navy.

 

Along with lots of documents he has to take his National Health card. According to the literature from the RN the National Health Number should contain 8 digits and if the card held has a series of letters a new number should be obtained. Jack's NHS number does include some letters. I have been to our GP today and have spoken to the receptionist. I have been told that Jack's NHS number is OK and he can't get a new number.

 

Are there any forum members who are GP's GP receptioinists or work in the NHS who can point us in the right direction to getting Jack issued with a new NHS number please

 

I want to make sure Jack has all the correct documents. His interview is a week on Thursday.

 

Thank You

[Snowy]

As far as I am aware, the number cannot be reissued as all your old notes would then not have the correct number I'd ring the Navy people and ask if this is correct (unless someone can come along and enlighten us both!)

[Cate in NZ]

My memory is a bit hazy on the details of this I'm afraid, but they definitely changed the format of NHS numbers 3 or 4 years ago, and everyone was reissued with a new format number (all numbers, no letters). However, they didn't tell individuals about the change, oh, no, that would have been far too simple , but the new numbers were gradually rolled out to new babies, people registering with the NHS for the first time, then people moving to a new GP etc...ie those who needed a NHS card. Those who didn't move or change GP will simply have had their number changed on the GP computer system. So, assuming the GP is computerised (all practices are now I'm pretty certain ) try asking your receptionist to look up Jack's details on the system and read out the number to you. They might be able to write it down on a piece of headed notepaper for you...is that likely to suffice for the Navy .

 

I'm not at all sure where you get new cards from, I used to deal with Maidstone, but I don't know if that simply served Kent or if it was national . I'll do a quick computer search for you, see if I can find any info. Of course, Scotland can be a bit of an anomaly...the info I've given certainly applies to England...and I think it applies to Scotland as well but can't be totally sure.

[Snowy]

Ah, well done Cate - that makes more sense

Typical NHS though

[Cate in NZ]

Ali, check out http://www.nhs.uk/aboutnhs/TheNHSNumber/Pages/TheNHSNumber.aspx#q05 I think this seems to give you the info you need. It even seems to suggest that you should get the new number in 2 days . That's a whole lot quicker than Maidstone ever used to function in my experience but it looks promising that you should be able to get Jack a new card issued in time .

 

And, of course, please wish Jack the very best of luck for his interview...I'll have my fingers crossed for him

[Olly]

Thanks for asking this question. That explains why my NHS number, which was an easily memorable set of four letters and a number (not that I ever needed to memorise it) suddenly morphed into something much longer when I moved house!

 

Good luck to Jack for next week.

[ali-s]

Thank you so much for all your help

 

When I went to the medical centre today their computer system was down. I will return tomorrow and see if new NHS numbers were issued when we changed address in July. I notified our GP of our change of address but Jack's NHS card (and the rest of the family) has an old address on them. We have moved twice since and it never entered my head to have the address on the cards changed.

 

I knew an Omleteer(s) would have an answer to my question

[bluekarin]

Ali, check out http://www.nhs.uk/aboutnhs/TheNHSNumber/Pages/TheNHSNumber.aspx#q05 I think this seems to give you the info you need. It even seems to suggest that you should get the new number in 2 days . That's a whole lot quicker than Maidstone ever used to function in my experience but it looks promising that you should be able to get Jack a new card issued in time .

 

And, of course, please wish Jack the very best of luck for his interview...I'll have my fingers crossed for him

 

I just had a look and it says on there old number have been replaced with a new one

 

What is my NHS Number?

 

Everyone registered with the NHS in England has their own unique NHS Number. Your NHS Number is printed on your medical card given to you when you register with a GP practice. Your NHS Number helps healthcare staff to find your health records. Each NHS Number is made up of 10 digits, shown like this: 450 557 7104 (this is an example number only).

 

If you have an old medical card, it will have an old style NHS Number made up of both letters and numbers. This has now been replaced for all patients by a new NHS Number made up entirely of numbers. Having the old style NHS Number will not affect your care.

[Seagazer]

Good luck to Jack with his interview for the Navy. My brother joined when he was 17 and enjoyed a good few years in it (including the Falklands, but luckily by the time he got sent out it was all over ).

[ali-s]

Still encountering problems with Jack's NHS number.

 

I have been back to the medical centre who advised me to contact Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, ARI advised me to contact Aberdeen Primary Care which I did. It seems Jack cannot have a new number, APC are going to send Jack a new card in the hope that their computer will churn out a numercial NHS number, which it might not

 

Maybe I should register Jack with another GP in the hope that his number gets changed then

 

APC said that this problem might be due to the fact Jack was born in England and was registered with a GP before we moved to Scotland , even though he only lived in England for 3 months.

 

Maybe I should register Jack with a GP in England

 

The interview letter came from the Scottish part of the Royal Navy so the numercal NHS numbers must be the same In Scotland and England.

 

This has got me stumped and Jack is getting stressed.

 

Thanks for the good wishes for Jack's interview