No NHS card???

I registered at my GP in late May and still don't have a card.

When I changed my name at my surgery in May, I got a new card pretty quickly (but, despite saying I'd got married, which was the point of the name change, I was still put down as a 'Miss'!?). Odd.

DH says the only time he's used his card in his entire life is when he's moved and re-registered, at a new surgery. I'd assume you'd need the number at least, so it'll be easy to find you in the system (?) , but you should be able to get that from your surgery??

Still no card

I think I already posted this here, but I registered in March and I still have no card.  But when I asked the receptionist she told me they no longer issue them.  Its one of those "every person in the same company will tell you something different" things we often find here in the UK!

It is useful to have the card but it's not essential. I didn't even know there was a card until a few years back when I moved house and the new GP couldn't accept me because I didn't know my NHS number even though I showed her my pasport to prove I'm British!! In the end she contacted the local health authority and they confirmed it for her (by which time I'd decided I didn't want her as my GP anyway!!). Unless you run into a jobsworth like that you won't need it. 

The GP I'd registered with in Leighton Buzzard said they didn't issue cards anymore.  I do have my number though, as I got a form letter to go for a smear since they didn't have one on file (since I had just had one two months before the move) which had my number on it.  Going to register with new surgery here in Coventry on Friday, we'll see what they say.