Patients face axe from their GP surgery if they're too healthy
Patients face axe from their GP surgery if they're too healthy
NHS England has employed a private company to "cleanse" GPs' patient lists, targeting those who have not had an appointment for more than five years. Under the plans, people in this situation will be sent two letters asking them to respond but if they do not reply saying they wish to remain registered with their GP, they will be axed from the surgery's list. The idea is to find out whether patients have moved away from the area, left the country or died. GPs are paid an average of about £136 for every patient on their list and the NHS's plans, which will be led by private company Capita, aim to cut costs.
NHS England should abandon this exercise which will have the inevitable consequences of disruption for patients and a reduction of core funding disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable practices.
Dr Robert Morley, from the British Medical Association
But Pulse magazine, which first revealed details of the plan, did an investigation showing that thousands of patients have already been wrongly removed from GPs' lists. Dr Robert Morley, from the British Medical Association, said: "Patients have a right to be registered unless they move or register elsewhere, even if they don't need to or choose not to access services." Katherine Murphy, from the Patients Association said the organisation had warned the NHS against the plans but that, if it insisted on proceeding, it needed to do so with extreme caution. An NHS England spokeswoman said: "The National Audit Office and House of Commons Public Accounts Committee have all drawn attention to the need to ensure accurate patient lists, and for proper stewardship of public funds."