GP practices could close from NHS England’s “list cleansing” drive, doctors warn

An “aggressive” drive by NHS England to remove so called “ghost patients” from GP lists is posing an “existential threat” to practices and could even force closures, family doctors have warned.“Ghost patients” are those who remain on a practice patient list for some time despite having moved or died, because of the practice not being notified.The BMA estimated that over 344 000 such patients have been stripped from practice lists across England in the past year since the health service launched a targeted drive to accelerate removals.1But because funding for general practices is based on the size of their patient lists, the BMA has warned that such cleansing is not without consequence. The union estimated that 344 000 patients being removed equates to practices losing just under £40m in core funding for GP services at a time when practices are more financially stretched than ever, it warned.Under the process of…