26,500 'ghost' patients to be taken off GPs' registers ; SAVING: MEDICS FEAR SOME PEOPLE MAY BE LEFT WITHOUT A DOCTOR

[EMT City Administrator]

About 26,500 "ghost" patients are set to be taken off GP registers.

It will save the NHS nearly Pounds 1.7 million a year as family doctors are paid about Pounds 65 for each patient registered at their practice. The "ghost" patients have been found in a review by the primary care trust (PCT) for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. They are people registered with a doctor but not believed to be living in the area any longer.

GPs said that while they supported the "list cleansing", ordered by the Department of Health, they feared some patients might suddenly find themselves without a doctor.

Dr Angela Lennox, a GP in the St Matthew's, Leicester, said: "Some people move abroad and don't tell anyone and others - particularly young people - move around with work and don't register with another practice so it is important we have an accurate list.

"My only worry is that PCTs have been known to get things wrong and remove genuine patients from lists.

"It is not uncommon for people, especially vulnerable groups, not to respond to letters.

If anyone is worried they should contact their GP surgery."

The review began last August when 8,886 letters were sent to the heads of households where seven or more people were registered as living and covered about 80,000 individuals.

As a result of responses, 12,700 patients were marked as having moved away. A second letter was then sent to more than 38,000 people who had not replied. A final letter is now being sent to 13,856 patients telling them they will be removed from the practice list where they are registered.

The notice to take someone off a GP list will be withdrawn if the patient contacts their doctor within six months.

If they have been removed from a list they will have to reregister.

As well as the reduction to doctors' funding, the removal will also mean a cut of Pounds 662,500 allocated to the three clinical commissioning groups (CCG) in Leicestershire, due to take on full responsibility for local health services on April 1. Each group has been given Pounds 25 per patient to pay for their office running costs.

Sue Malpas, senior contract manager for NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, said: "We have more patients registered than the Census figures show as the area's population, so we need to get a clearer picture of the number of patients registered at each practice. "However, we also wanted to ensure that anyone who wanted to remain with their GP had the chance to do so."

Dr Mark Findlay, a GP in Barwell, said: "The difficulty comes if you have someone, particularly the elderly, who doesn't respond to the letter.

"They might find when they do contact their surgery their medical notes have been returned to the patient registration centre in Nottingham."

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