Screening Invitation Error and patient registration process
Publication date: March 2025
I am writing to all colleagues regarding a now identified error resulting in around 5262 patients [since 2008] not receiving appropriate invitations for screening.
NHS England estimates that approximately 2500 General Practices across England will have patients involved, and thus those practices will receive separate letters from the ICB noting they have patients affected by this issue.
The affected invitations are for bowel, breast and cervical cancer screening programmes , as well as abdominal aortic aneurysm screening. It did not affect any of the antenatal or neonatal screening programmes, nor the diabetic eye screening programme.
NHS England is directly contacting all patients involved; these will identify the steps patients need to take, and they will be able to have screening investigations even if they have passed the normal age limit for this.
For cervical screening, GP practices are asked to offer a timely appointment for any affected woman who contacts the practice as a result of this letter.
NHS England has set up a dedicated helpline available Monday – Friday 9am to 5pm to answer patient queries on 03458778962.
The underlying cause of this event appears to be a stepwise process within the patient registration process.
- When practices submit patient information to PCSE, in some cases PCSE will send back queries to the practice.
- This does not affect patient identification as a registered patient, but without a response to the PCSE query, the patients registration in terms of the Step 2 process, which transferring patient information to the screening programmes IT, is not completed.
- Although practices may receive emails from PCSE, in relation to such queries, practices have to go into the PCSE registration system to address any queries and reconcile the registration. It is not however evident to practices that Step 2 has not happened.
As part of the review of this incident, there will be an assessment of whether a ‘Step 2’ process needs to occur.
Obviously the vast majority of patient registrations have been completed by practices without any difficulties; for colleagues with queries regarding patient registration, PCSE provide the following information.
NHS England have established a clinical review group to consider any clinical issues that may result from this error, and NHS Resolution is also aware of this incident.
Dr Julius Parker, Chief Executive