[guide.chat] news cheating doctors

From: vanessa <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:29:22 -0000
Doctors were paid for patients on their books who were found to have moved 
house, left the country or been dead for up to 30 years
7:30AM GMT 23 Feb 2012
Investigators identified more than 95,000 patients who needed removing from GP 
lists in England and Wales in a single year.
Doctors were paid for patients on their books who were found to have moved 
house, left the country or been dead for up to 30 years.
The Department of Health admitted that there could be as many as 2.5 million 
such patients registered.
Inaccurate GP lists can mean that some practices receive more than their fair 
share of funding, while others miss out.
When patients move to another practice, a failure to remove them from an 
existing list can mean that two GPs are paid for one patient?s care.

According to the 12-month review by the Audit Commission, almost 30,000 
patients were found to have moved to another practice; more than 32,000 had 
died years before, some as long ago as 1980; and almost 10,000 were failed 
asylum seekers.
Nearly 20,000 patients were also removed from lists after investigators found 
high numbers of people registered at the same property, said the review, 
published on Thursday.
While it would not be unusual for 50 patients to be registered at a nursing 
home, 20 patients registered in one house would suggest inaccurate GP lists, 
the auditors said.
GP practices are paid an average £65 for each patient on their list regardless 
of how often they make an appointment or what treatments they receive.
Auditors said the removal of more than 95,000 ?ghost patients? meant that the 
NHS had saved more than £6.1 million in one year.
Following the review ? called the National Duplicate Registration Initiative 
(NDRI) exercise ? the medical records of almost 30,000 patients were 
transferred from patients? former GP to their current one.
The NDRI compares GPs? patient lists with those of other GPs and with other 
lists to find ?matches?. These identify a duplication or anomaly in the data 
that need further investigation.
The Department of Health admitted that although there are currently 55 million 
patients registered with GPs, there are only 52.5 million actually living in 
England.
This means the NHS could be unnecessarily spending nearly £163?million a year. 
It is the job of primary care trusts in England and local health boards in 
Wales to keep patient lists up to date.
Katherine Murphy, the chief executive of the Patients Association, condemned 
spending money on treating patients who ?only exist within NHS bureaucracy?.
?At a time when the NHS is being asked to make huge savings the Government 
needs to provide answers as to how money was wasted in this way,? she said.
Lord Howe, the health minister, said identifying ?ghost patients? would ensure 
practices were ?fairly funded only for the patients they are responsible for?.
?The NHS needs to make the best use of the funds it has available and avoid 
giving GPs extra income for patients who have moved away or died,? he said.


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[guide.chat] news cheating doctors

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