Shropshire doctors’ surgeries have thousands of 'ghost patients'

So-called ghost patients are a serious problem for the NHS, as the money allocated to surgeries is linked to the number of patients on their books.

The most recent estimate for the population of the area served by Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group is 172,976 – but there were 187,314 patients registered with GP surgeries in the area last month.

This means up to 14,340 of these could be ghost patients, or 7.7 per cent of all those registered.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) last updated its population estimates in mid 2016, so it is possible that population growth may account for some ghost patients.

But analysis of ONS figures shows that, between 2011 and 2016, the population grew by 0.7 per cent on average each year, so it is unlikely this accounts for all extra patients.

GP surgeries receive funding based on the number of people they have registered, which is then weighted to take into account key patient demographics like gender, age and disability.

Telford and Wrekin CCG, which is in charge of commissioning healthcare services in the area, was allocated £27.32 million from the NHS based on the number of registered patients in the 2016-2017 financial year.

Funding

NHS figures show this was an average amount per patient of £148.88.

The funding formula is revised annually but based on these figures, the CCG would receive around £27.89 million for patients on the register in the coming financial year.

But if the population figure was used instead of the patient register it would be £25.75 million.

This means as much as £2.1 million would be allocated to ghost patients.

The health service has found no evidence that doctors are deliberately inflating patient numbers, and blames poor record keeping for the number of ghost patients.

As far back as 2012, the Audit Commission identified this problem with GPs’ record keeping and removed 95,000 patients from surgeries’ lists.

But the problem appears to be getting worse.

Three years ago, there were up to 6,765 ghost patients in Telford and Wrekin, compared to 14,338 in the latest figures.

Spokesman for Telford & Wrekin CCG Richard Caddy said: “General practices are supported to maintain their registrations by Primary Care Support England and this is an ongoing process.

“There can be a number of reasons why people not registered as living within Telford & Wrekin could be registered as patients with a Telford & Wrekin practice.

“These include people who live outside the local authority border, students and homeless people.”

It can also include people who move away and don’t register with another practice.

The NHS has been concerned about ghost patients for some time, and in 2016, it hired private company Capita to clear non-existent patients from GPs’ registers.

The firm has written to patients who have not contacted their registered practice within five years, as this could be an indicator that the patient has moved away.

NHS England says it factors ghost patients into its budget allocations.

A spokesman said: “GP practices work hard to keep their registered patient lists as accurate as possible and NHS England is working with Capita and GP surgeries to transform this process, make it digital and any savings identified will be ploughed back into the NHS.”