England's GP leaders have called for an immediate halt to NHS England's aggressive 'list-cleansing' process, which has seen large numbers of patients removed from GP practices' books and funding removed, even when these patients continue to need access to their GP surgery.

At a meeting of the BMA's GP committee for England (GPC England), members passed a motion condemning the "unsafe programme being rushed through by NHS England".

BMA GPs committee chair Dr Clare Bannon said:

"GPs in England unanimously passed a motion today calling for the Government to halt the list-cleansing process immediately, begin urgent discussions with GPC England, and reinvest funding taken from core general practice back into the services that deliver direct patient care.

"The process so far has been unsafe, disruptive and rushed, with little consideration for its destabilising impact on general practice funding or the risk of widening health inequalities for patients.

"For months, GPs have warned that this aggressive approach to list cleansing could cost practices tens of thousands of pounds in lost income, forcing them to cut staff hours, make redundancies or, in the worst cases, close altogether. And this is before you even get to some of the distressing cases where vulnerable patients have been erroneously removed, depriving them of access to their GP."

ENDS

Notes to editors

The motion passed unanimously and reads as: 

That GPCE, whilst recognising the importance of accurate patient lists, condemns the unsafe list cleansing process being rushed through by NHSE despite significant concerns about worsening health inequalities and impacts on general practice funding.

GPCE demands that the government immediately ceases this process and enters into urgent discussions with GPCE to ensure that the process is safe, equitable, and does not remove funding from core general practice which provides patient care, any loss of funding should be unconditionally re-invested into core general practice.

BMA is a professional association and trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK. A leading voice advocating for outstanding health care and a healthy population. An association providing members with excellent individual services and support throughout their lives.