House of Commons · Written Ministerial Statement
NHS Screening and GP Registrations
11 March 2025 · Department of Health and Social Care
Proposed by Ashley Dalton Lab West Lancashire
Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.
At a glance
Key points
- The NHS has issued a Written Ministerial Statement regarding incorrect screening invitations sent to over 5,000 people due to a failure in the GP registration process.
- Letters have been sent to affected patients to explain the situation and outline next steps.
- NHS England is conducting a clinical harm assessment and will take appropriate action based on expert advice.
Issue summary
The statement addresses a failure in the GP registration process that led to incorrect screening invitations for over 5,000 people.
Action requested
Letters have been sent to affected patients explaining the situation and next steps. NHS England is also conducting a clinical harm assessment based on expert advice and will take appropriate action where necessary. Ongoing work includes identifying those potentially impacted by delayed screening and ensuring future GP registration processes are correctly recorded in IT systems.
Key facts
- Around 5,261 people were not invited for routine screening due to incorrect GP registrations.
- Up to 10 patients with relevant cancers were not invited for certain screenings.
- About 10 people may have died from a relevant cancer after not being invited for screening.
- The issue affected bowel, breast and cervical cancer, as well as abdominal aortic aneurysm screening programmes since December 2008.
- A helpline has been set up by NHS England to assist patients.
- Work is ongoing to assess any clinical implications of delayed screening.