Thousands of patients have been struck off GPs’ lists because of overzealous NHS efforts to cut the costs of “ghost patients”.
Doctors have warned that patients could miss vital screening appointments or vaccinations if they are removed from lists without knowing, and have to make an effort to re-register when the mistake is spotted.
Medical leaders accused health chiefs of “lunacy” in an attempt to cut costs, but NHS England said it needed to stop money being wasted on patients who did not exist, adding that it was not hard for patients to correct errors.
Coral Jones, a GP in Tower Hamlets, east London, said: “Patients are really upset. They come in and we say ‘but you’ve moved’ and they say ‘we haven’t, what’s this all about?’. We’ve had people who have been here for years and they suddenly get removed. In theory, patients can miss out on care they need. We have a high list turnover so we only get alerted to it when someone comes in wanting an appointment. If people don’t come in, we would not know they are not registered. They might miss out on a screening invitation. Anything could happen.”
Figures released last year revealed that more names are registered with GPs than there are people in the country, suggesting that the NHS is paying twice for two million “ghost patients” who had moved but had not told their doctors. GP practice funding is allocated according to how many patients they have on their books and NHS England is sending letters to people suspected of being “ghost patients”, who face removal if they do not respond confirming they still need treatment.
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Some 14 per cent of patients removed have re-registered, suggesting that mistakes are routine, according to figures obtained by Pulse magazine under freedom of information laws. In 10 out of 25 areas that gave figures, 11,894 patients were removed and re-registered. Efforts in the Thames Valley appeared least accurate, with 40 per cent of removed patients since restored to lists.
Richard Ma, a GP in Islington, London, said: “Patients who find out they have been deregistered will often come in angry and blame the practice. Patients often say they did not respond to letters to check registration, thinking they might be junk mail.”
Robert Morley, of the British Medical Association’s general practitioners’ committee, said the drive to remove patients was “lunacy”, adding: “There will inevitably be swings and roundabouts, balancing ‘ghost’ patients with unregistered patients. To claim general practice is unfairly overfunded by the existence of ghosts is a fallacy.”
The NHS said it took “all possible steps to contact patients and minimise the number who need to re-register”.