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Capita list cleanse plan

At the end of July it was reported that part of the new Primary Care Support Services contract between NHS England and Capita would include a list cleanse programme, designed to remove patients who had not visited the practice they are registered with in the last five years.

Capita will be requesting lists of patients who have not been in contact with practices for five years. Each of these patients will be sent two letters. Those who do not respond to either letter will then have their names passed back to their practice. At this point a practice will have six months to establish contact with the patient in question or have them de-registered.

London already has a rolling list cleanse scheme, which was negotiated by Londonwide LMCs with NHS England following NHS England’s last large scale list cleanse in 2013. The existing system is proportionate and fair and we await information on what if anything would change were the Capita contract to be implemented in Greater London and will update practices as and when details are available.

When Londonwide LMCs was recently approached for comment, Dr Tony Grewal, Medical Director for North West London, said:

“These exercises to de-resister patients who have not recently visited their GP are at the very least inconvenient for patients and at the worst can cause delays in access to care for vulnerable patients. GP practices also have to carry the administrative burden of re-registering patients at short notice. At a time when general practice is on its knees it seems ridiculous that NHS England is committing time and money to inconveniencing patients, GPs and practice staff.”

Last updated : 16 Aug 2016

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