RCGP statement on screening error

RCGP responds to the Ministerial Statement on NHS Screening and GP Registrations, Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said:

“As GPs, the health and wellbeing of our patients is our number one priority, so it’s distressing to hear that some people may have missed health interventions as a result of inadvertent administrative errors.

“GP practices take the management of their patient records very seriously but if mistakes happen, it's important robust safeguards are in place to identify and rectify them, so that patients can continue to receive the care and services they need.

“Now that the issue has been identified, serious action must be taken to contact those who have been affected – and we have been reassured this has already started - and ensure that steps are taken so that something similar cannot happen again.

“National screening programmes, which are evidence-based and approved by NICE and the UK National Screening Committee, have potentially saved millions of lives so it’s important that these are accessible for all patients who are eligible.”

Further information

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editors

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.